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The transverse cervical artery: New origins and pathways
Author(s) -
Phillips Lloyd G.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
clinical anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1098-2353
pISSN - 0897-3806
DOI - 10.1002/ca.980020206
Subject(s) - medicine , subclavian artery , trunk , anatomy , cervical artery , surgery , dissection (medical) , ecology , biology
Most areas of the body demonstrate variations in vascular pattern with regard to origin, course, and distribution. Vascular damage is especially likely if an unexpected vascular pattern occurs in a common surgical site. The supra‐clavicular region is one such site: the many types of operative procedures performed here provide ample opportunity for inadvertent discovery of such variations. Standard textbook descriptions of the subclavian artery and its proximal branches and their relationships are usually sufficient to inform the surgeon of the predominate patterns, but leave him ill‐prepared for encounters with less common varieties. Previous studies, some extensive, have detailed many of these variations, but emphasis has been placed on the vascular configurations themselves, rather than on their clinical significance. The present study first reviews the common patterns and then outlines several heretofore undescribed variations in the thyrocervical trunk‐transverse cervical artery complex encountered in 74 unilateral and 38 bilateral neck‐shoulder specimens. Specific reference is made regarding their discovery during surgical procedures.