Aortic sac

The aortic sac or aortic bulb is a dilated structure in mammalian embryos, lined by endothelial cells located just above (distal to) the truncus arteriosus. It is the primordial vascular channel from which the aortic arches arise (and eventually the dorsal aortae) and is homologous to the ventral aorta of gill-bearing vertebrates.