(an'să , an'sē‵)

Plural: ansae

[L. ansa, a hand le]

In anatomy, a structure in the form of a loop or arc.

SEE: nerve.

a. cervicalis A loop of interconnected cervical nerves in the neck that is embedded in the superficial aspect of the carotid sheath. It is composed of nerve branches from cervical spinal nerves C1-C3; its branches innervate the infrahyoid muscles (sternohyoid, sternothyroid, and omohyoid muscles).

a. lenticularis An output tract from the internal segment of the globus pallidus in the basal ganglia; it curves around the posterior limb of the internal capsule and synapses in the ventral anterior and ventral lateral nuclei of the thalamus. SYN: striatosubthalamic radiation.

a. nervorum spinalium Any of the connecting loops of nerve fibers between the anterior spinal nerves.

a. peduncularis An output tract from the amygdala to the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus.

a. sacralis A nerve loop connecting the sympathetic trunk with the coccygeal ganglion.

a. subclavia A loop of interconnected autonomic nerves from the cervicothoracic sympathetic trunk that encircles the subclavian artery deep in the root of the neck.