Which arterial wall layer houses elastic lamellae?

• A. Tunica adventitia
• B. Tunica intima
• C. Tunica media
• D. External elastic lamina

Answer: (C)

Elastic lamellae are organized elastic fibers that run as concentric sheets within a layer of the arterial wall that contains smooth muscle—this is the tunica media. In elastic arteries, multiple lamellae lie between layers of smooth muscle in the media, giving the vessel its recoil after blood pulses. The boundary between intima and media is marked by the internal elastic lamina, while the boundary between media and adventitia is the external elastic lamina; these laminae exist at borders, but the actual elastic lamellae are housed inside the tunica media. Thus, the layer that contains the elastic lamellae is the tunica media.