Plexus

This article is about anatomy term. For other uses, see Plexus (disambiguation).

In anatomy, a plexus (from the Latin term for 'braid') is a branching network of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, or nerves. The nerves are typically axons outside the central nervous system.

The standard plural form in English is plexuses. Alternatively, the Latin plural plexūs may be used.

Types

Nerve plexuses

The four primary nerve plexuses are the cervical plexus, brachial plexus, lumbar plexus, and the sacral plexus.

Cardiac plexus

Main article: Cardiac plexus

Celiac plexus

Main article: Celiac plexus

Renal plexus

Main article: Renal plexus

Venous plexus

Main article: Venous plexus

Choroid plexus

The choroid plexus is a part of the central nervous system in the brain and consists of capillaries, brain ventricles, and ependymal cells.

Invertebrates

The plexus is the characteristic form of nervous system in the coelenterates and persists with modifications in the flatworms. The nerves of the radially symmetric echinoderms also take this form, where a plexus underlies the ectoderm of these animals and deeper in the body other nerve cells form plexuses of limited extent.

See also

• Cranial nerve
• Spinal nerve
• Nerve plexus
• Brachial nerve
• List of anatomy mnemonics