The middle layer of blood vessel walls, composed principally of thin, cylindrical, smooth muscle cells and elastic tissue. It accounts for the bulk of the wall of most arteries. The smooth muscle cells are arranged in circular layers around the vessel, and the thickness of the coat varies with the size of the vessel.

Annotation

/pathol is more likely than "diseases of the tunica media"; coordinate IM with specific blood vessel (IM)

DUI

D017540 MeSH Browser

CUI

M0026602

Previous indexing

Muscle, Smooth (1966-1979); Muscle, Smooth, Vascular (1980-1992); specific blood vessel (1966-1992)

History note

93

Public note

93