Variations of the hepatobiliary vasculature including coexistence of accessory right hepatic artery with unusually arising double cystic arteries: case report and literature review

Familiarity with the different anatomical variations of the arterial supply of the gallbladder and liver is of great importance in all hepatobiliary surgical procedures. A complex anomaly of the hepatobiliary arterial system, which has never been reported before, was found during anatomical dissection of a 73-year-old male Caucasian cadaver. The accessory right hepatic artery (aRHA) took its origin from the gastroduodenal artery. Two cystic arteries were present, the first arising from the gastroduodenal artery (more distal than the aRHA) and the second directly from the aRHA. Potential clinical implications of this anomaly and embryology are discussed. Knowledge of the different anatomical variations of the arterial supply of the gallbladder and liver is of great importance in hepatobiliary surgical procedures.     

Absence of the celiac trunk: case report and review of the literature

The authors report a rare variation of the absence of the celiac trunk in a Japanese cadaver, with the left gastric, splenic, common hepatic, and superior mesenteric arteries arising independently from the abdominal aorta in the routine dissection of a 95-year-old Japanese male cadaver. The incidence and developmental and clinical significance of this variation is discussed with a detailed review of the literature. Knowledge of such case has important clinical significance in an abdominal operation or invasive arterial procedure, that is, Appleby procedure and liver transplantation, laparoscopic surgery, and radiological procedures in the upper abdomen.     

A hepatomesenteric trunk,in association with left gastric and splenic arteries arising independently from the abdominal aorta: A case report using MDCT angiography

We present a case of a 73-year-old male with peripheral vascular disease of the lower limbs, who on shown MDCT angiography, to have a hepatomesenteric trunk (HMT), and left gastric artery (LGA) and splenic artery (SpA) arising independently from the abdominal aorta (AA), and with additional right renal arteries. The HMT with a length of 5 mm (with an aspect of a common stem origin of common hepatic artery (CHA) and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) arose from the anterior wall of the AA at the level of upper one-third of the L2 vertebral body. The CHA originating from the superior part of the right edge of the HMT, have an ascendent path in front of AA, and finally fork in gastroduodenal artery and hepatic artery proper. With a descending path the SMA across the left renal vein, uncinate process, and inferior part of the duodenum (D3) made an aortomesenteric angle of 61°. The aortomesenteric distance at the level of the L3 vertebral body was 51 mm. The present case is only the 13th reported HMT in association with an independently arising LGA and SpA from the AA, the first case report with this condition using MDCT angiography. Knowledge of the variations in origin and distribution of the HMT is important for planning and performing procedures such as duodenopancreatectomy, liver transplantation, and chemoembolization of the pancreas and hepatic tumors.     

A rare case of inferior mesenteric artery arising from the superior mesenteric artery,with a review of the review of the literature

Anatomical variations of the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) are uncommon. Generally, the IMA is very stable, arises directly from the abdominal aorta at the level of the third lumbar vertebra. We describe here an extremely rare case in which the IMA arose from the superior mesenteric artery. The findings were made during routine dissection of the cadaver of a 79-year-old Japanese man. This present case is the ninth report of this variation and was associated with gastrophrenic trunk, hepatosplenic trunk, hypoplastic spleen and accessory spleen. Clinically, cases like this highlight the importance of knowing the IMA anatomy and the possibility of its numerous variations in surgical procedures such as right hemicolectomy, resection of the transverse colon, left hemicolectomy, sigmoidectomy, and en bloc resection of the head of the pancreas and the superior mesenteric vessels. The developmental significance of this variation is also discussed with a detailed review of the literature.     

Patent ductus arteriosus, large right pulmonary artery and brachiocephalic trunk variations. A case report

Aortic arch anomalies occur due to disorders of the development of primitive double aortic arch system. In this study a patent ductus arteriosus, which had the appearance of a muscular type artery, was observed in addition to an enlarged right pulmonary artery with a diameter of 2.4 cm, causing thickening to right ventricular wall. A left common carotid artery arising from the brachiocephalic trunk was also observed. Such a complicated variation is extremely rare.     

Rare case of right accessory renal artery originating as a common trunk with the inferior mesenteric artery: a case report

Dissection of a male cadaver revealed several vascular abnormalities in the abdominal cavity, notably of the renal circulation. In particular, three renal arteries were observed on the right side and two on the left. On the right side, one accessory renal artery originated as a common trunk with the inferior mesenteric artery. Additional variations included a left inferior phrenic artery originating from the celiac trunk, bilateral testicular veins emptying into renal veins, and the left testicular artery arising from the left renal artery. The possible embryonic development of these branching patterns and their clinical significance are discussed briefly.     

Rare case of the trunk of the inferior phrenic arteries originating from a common stem with a superior additional left renal artery from the abdominal aorta

We describe in this article a rare case of a 39‐year‐old male with an inferior phrenic arteries trunk (IPAaT) originating from a common stem with a superior additional left renal artery (SAdLRA) from the abdominal aorta as revealed by routine multidetector computed tomography angiography. The IPAaT with an endoluminal diameter at the origin of 2.8 mm had an upward path with a total length of 18.4 mm, forking to the right inferior phrenic artery and left inferior phrenic artery. These two arteries had an endoluminal diameter at the origin of 1.7 mm and 2.0 mm, respectively. The presence of the common stem of the IPAaT with a SAdLRA and the length of the IPAaT complicate selective chemoembolization of the liver parenchyma. Clin. Anat. 25:979–982, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Mature cystic teratoma of the ovary with male accessory sexual glands including seminal vesicles,prostatic tissue,and bulbo-urethral glands: a case report

We present an extremely rare case of a benign cystic ovarian teratoma with structures of male accessory sexual glands. The patient was a 30-year-old woman. A unilocular cystic tumor, measuring 5cm in the largest diameter, was found in her right ovary and was removed. The teratoma contained epidermis, skin appendages, respiratory and intestinal epithelia, cartilage, muscle, and nervous and connective tissue. In addition to these histologically mature tissues, there were nodules with prostatic acini, prostate duct-like structures strongly positive for prostate-specific antigen and acid prostatic phosphatase, structures resembling Cowper’s glands, and seminal vesicles surrounded by fibromuscular stroma. To our knowledge, this is the first case in the English literature describing seminal vesicles associated with prostatic tissue and bulbo-urethral glands in a mature ovarian teratoma.     

Common stem origin of left gastric,right and left inferior phrenic arteries,in association with a hepatosplenomesenteric trunk,independently arising from the abdominal aorta: Case report using MDCT angiography

We describe in this paper a rare case of a 45‐year‐old male with a common stem origin of the left gastric artery (LGA), right inferior phrenic artery (RIPA), and left inferior phrenic artery (LIPA), in association with the presence of a hepatosplenomesenteric trunk (HSMT) arising from the abdominal aorta (AA), as revealed by routine multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography. The common stem origin of the LGA, RIPA, and LIPA had an endoluminal diameter of 3.3 mm, the LGA of 2.8 mm. The endoluminal diameter of the RIPA and LIPA was at the origin of approximately 1 mm, complicating selective chemoembolization of the liver parenchyma. Clin. Anat. 26:980–983, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A direct anastomosis between the stems of celiac trunk and left colic artery by an anomalous fourth celiac trunk branch: First cadaveric study

Coeliac trunk (CT) is a ventral branch of abdominal aorta (AA) supplying the foregut through its three main branches, left gastric (LGA), common hepatic (CHA) and splenic artery (Standring et al., 2009). Branching pattern of CT may vary from above mentioned classical three to four, five or six. Additional branches include inferior phrenic artery, dorsal pancreatic artery, middle colic or accessory middle colic artery (Hamilton and Mossman, 1972; Amonoo‐Kuofi et al., 1995). Anastmosis between CT and Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) which supplies the midgut derivatives in the form of Bühler's arcade (1‐2%) is present posterior to the body of pancreas (Douard et al., 2006; McNulty et al., 2001). Anastomoses between SMA and Inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) which supplies hindgut derivatives are also documented (Lange et al, 2007; Van Damme and Bonte, 1990). Until recently no communications between arteries of foregut and hindgut were reported (Manoharan et al., 2010; Patel et al., 2010; Stimec et al., 2011). We report the first cadaveric finding demonstrating a direct communication between the stems of CT and left colic artery (LCA) via a fourth anomalous CT branch in the absence of any co‐existing stenosis or aneurysm in the main vessels. Clin. Anat. 26:984–986, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

双肾动静脉、双侧睾丸血管及副肾动脉1例

在解剖一具成年男性尸体标本时发现其有右双肾动静脉、左双睾丸静脉、右睾丸动脉起于右下肾动脉、右睾丸静脉汇入右下肾静脉、左副肾动脉及下腔静脉受压扩张等多种变异（图1），此多变异共存现象少见，现报道如下：     

Retroesophageal right subclavian artery: a case report and review of the literature

BackgroundVariations of vessels arising from the aortic arch are numerous. One of the common anatomical variations is the right subclavian artery originating as the last branch of the aortic arch. This is a report of a case of an adult male cadaver with a retroesophageal right subclavian artery.ObjectiveTo highlight the significance of a retroesophageal right subclavian artery, especially its clinical and surgical implications.MethodIs a report of a case of an anomalous vessel found during routine student dissection of the chest region in a male cadaver.ResultThe retroesophageal subclavian artery was seen originating as the last branch from the postero-lateral aspect of the thoracic aorta at the vertebral level T4. The heart was normal with no other vascular variations seen in this region.ConclusionAnatomists and pathologists mainly encounter a retroesophageal right subclavian artery by chance and is usually described as asymptomatic, but several clinical conditions have been associated with its occurrence. This is a clear example of when knowledge of an anatomical variation is helpful in clinical practice.     

Association of the truncus bicaroticus, common trunk of the left subsclavian and vertebral arteries, and retroesophageal right subclavian artery. Case report

We present a rare case of combined anomalies of the aortic arch. At its convexity, the arch of aorta gave rise, from right to left, first to the truncus bicaroticus and then to the common trunk of the left subclavian and left vertebral artery. A retro-esophageal right subclavian artery arose from the dorsal aspect of the arch, distally from the common trunk of the left vertebral artery and left subclavian artery. The combination of these anomalies has not been described before and may have important clinical implications.     

Segmental arterial mediolysis of the middle colic artery: report of a case with special reference to lesions of small arteries and veins

We report a case of segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM) that involved the middle colic artery, and present some pathologic alterations found in mesenteric small arteries and veins. The patient, a 52-year-old woman, underwent an emergency laparotomy for acute intra-abdominal hemorrhage, and a segment of the transverse colon with hemorrhagic mesocolon was excised. Microscopic examination demonstrated two separate lesions of SAM in the middle colic artery. The involved arterial segments showed a partial to circumferential loss of the media (mediolysis) and intima associated with the formation of a pseudoaneurysm. Smooth muscle cells adjacent to the mediolysis showed various degenerative changes. In addition, we found multiple, tiny foci of degenerative lesions affecting the outer media in the wall of small arteries. Subendothelial vacuoles and nodular intimal proliferation were also noted in small veins. Whereas SAM chiefly affects large or medium-sized arteries, small blood vessels, including veins, are also affected. The present case is unusual in that degeneration of medial smooth muscle cells was clearly observed in the arterial walls, and the small veins were affected by lesions similar to those in arteries. We suspect that a phenotypic modulation of vascular smooth muscle cells induced by some genetic vulnerability plays a role in the pathogenesis of SAM.     

Bilateral variations of the vertebral arteries: The left originating from the aortic arch and the left and right entering the C5 transverse foramina

During the dissection course for second year medical students at the University of Toyama in 2005, we encountered variations of the bilateral vertebral arteries: the left directly came off from the aortic arch as the third branch between the left common carotid artery and the left subclavian artery and entered the transverse foramen of C5, instead of C6, whereas the right originated from the right subclavian artery and entered the transverse foramen of C5. The present vertebral artery of each side was possibly formed by the 6th cervical intersegmental artery linked with the longitudinal anastomoses between the cervical intersegmental arteries. Detailed knowledge of vertebral artery variations is crucially important for surgical treatment of blood vessels in the brain, neck and chest.     

Arteria thyroidea ima arising from the brachiocephalic trunk with bilateral absence of inferior thyroid arteries: a case report

Summary The anomalous first parts of the left and right subclavian aa. had no inferior thyroid aa. in the neck region. The thyroidea ima a. was found to arise from the brachiocephalic trunk, and bifurcated into two branches almost immediately after its origin. These branches ascended in front of the trachea and entered the bases of the right and left lobes of the thyroid gland. The left vertebral a. arose from the aortic arch in the superior mediastinum. The possible existence of this anomaly is important for parathyroid localization studies, in neck surgery and especially in tracheostomy.

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Arteria thyroidea ima (anciennement artère thyroïdienne moyenne de Neubauer) naissant du tronc brachio-céphalique avec absence des artères thyroïdiennes inférieures

Résumé Les parties intiales des artères subclavières gauche et droite étaient anormales. Elles ne donnaient pas, dans la région cervicale, d'artère thyroïdienne inférieure. L'artère thyroidea ima naissait du tronc brachio-céphalique et se bifurquait, peu après son origine, en deux branches. Ces branches avaient un trajet ascendant ventralement à la trachée et pénétraient le pôle inférieur des lobes droit et gauche de la glande thyroïde. L'artère vertébrale gauche provenait de l'arc aortique et se situait dans le médiastin supérieur. La possibilité d'une telle anomalie est importante à connaître dans la recherche du site des glandes parathyroïdes et dans la chirurgie du cou, spécialement au cours des trachéotomies.