Anatomical variation of arterial supply to the rabbit spleen |
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Authors: | Reona IKEGAMI Yoshimasa TANIMOTO Miori KISHIMOTO Hideshi SHIBATA |
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Affiliation: | 1)Laboratory of Veterinary Anatomy, Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo 183–8509, Japan;2)Laboratory of Veterinary Imaging, Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo 183–8509, Japan |
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Abstract: | The rabbit, which is widely used as an experimental animal and is also popular as a companion animal, has a
flat and elongated spleen with the longitudinal hilus running along its visceral surface. The spleen receives
via the hilus an arterial supply that is essential for splenic nutrition and normal functioning. However, the
distribution and variation of the arteries to the spleen have not been studied in detail. This study
investigated anatomical variations of splenic arterial supply in 33 New Zealand White rabbits with a colored
latex injection into arteries. We also examined whether the length of the spleen correlated with the number of
the splenic branches of the splenic artery. The splenic artery always arose as the first independent branch of
the celiac artery and ran along the splenic hilus to usually provide 6 (range, 3 to 10) splenic branches to
the spleen. There was a moderate correlation (R=0.6) between the number of splenic branches
and the longitudinal length of the spleen. The splenic branches often arose as a trunk or trunks in common
with short gastric arteries. The number of common trunk(s) was usually 1 (range, 0 to 4). The data showed that
the pattern and number of arterial branches to the spleen varied according to the individual animal,
suggesting that such variations should be considered when performing experimental and veterinary surgical
treatments in rabbits. |
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Keywords: | angiology artery macroscopic anatomy rabbit spleen |
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