Which artery is described as connecting osteons together?

• A. Volmann/perforating artery
• B. Nutrient artery
• C. Central artery
• D. Periosteal artery

Answer: (A)

In dense cortical bone, the blood supply is organized in two main ways: vessels run longitudinally through the central (Haversian) canals inside each osteon, and there are transverse channels called Volkmann’s (perforating) canals that connect adjacent osteons and link the periosteal vessels to the internal vascular network. The artery described as connecting osteons together is the one that travels through these Volkmann’s canals, bridging from one osteon to another and allowing blood to pass between the osteons and from the periosteum into the Haversian system. The central arteries stay within a single osteon and don’t link osteons, nutrient arteries enter to supply the inner cortex and marrow rather than form cross-osteon connections, and periosteal vessels supply the outer cortex but are not the channels that connect osteons themselves. So the connecting pathway is the Volkmann’s/perforating arteries.