Department of anatomy, school of medicine, faculty of health sciences, national and Kapodistrian university of Athens, 75, Mikras Asias street, Goudi, 11527 Athens, Greece.
Department of hygiene, epidemiology and medical statistics, medical school, National and Kapodistrian university of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Morphologie. 2023 Sep;107(358):100597. doi: 10.1016/j.morpho.2023.03.002. Epub 2023 Apr 13.
The superior thyroid artery (STA) is one of the main arteries that provide blood supply to the thyroid gland. It has a plethora of anatomical variations, and knowledge of its anatomy is necessary in procedures in this area. The aim of this review is to summarize and describe human studies (cadaveric and angiographic) that investigate the anatomical variations related to the STA.
A systematic review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines was performed. A literature search in PubMed, and Embase databases was carried out. Original studies that investigated the origin of the STA and reported data on the variant arterial anatomy were considered, including only cadaveric and angiographic studies.
A total of 34 studies (4048 heminecks in total; heminecks in each study: min: 25-max: 1280) were finally included. All studies provide details about sex [men/women ratio median (IQR): 2(1-5)] but none about age and 10 (29%) about nationality. STA morphological characteristics described in the included studies are origin, length, number of branches, distance from the carotid bifurcation and the vessel's diameter.
The STA's anatomical features are subject to a non-negligible degree of variability. Our results should improve the awareness of anatomical variations of the STA, and eventually have an impact on the interventions regarding the visceral compartment of the neck in clinical practice.
甲状腺上动脉（STA）是为甲状腺供血的主要动脉之一。它有很多解剖变异，了解其解剖结构对于该区域的手术非常必要。本综述的目的是总结和描述与 STA 相关的解剖变异的人体研究（尸体和血管造影）。
按照系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目进行了系统评价。在 PubMed 和 Embase 数据库中进行了文献检索。纳入了研究 STA 起源并报告了变异动脉解剖数据的原始研究，包括仅尸体和血管造影研究。
最终纳入了 34 项研究（共 4048 个半颈；每项研究的半颈数：最小 25-最大 1280）。所有研究都提供了有关性别[男女比例中位数（IQR）：2（1-5）]的详细信息，但没有关于年龄的信息，10 项研究（29%）涉及国籍。纳入研究中描述的 STA 形态特征包括起源、长度、分支数量、距颈动脉分叉的距离和血管直径。
STA 的解剖特征存在明显的可变性。我们的研究结果应该提高对 STA 解剖变异的认识，并最终对临床实践中涉及颈部内脏区域的干预产生影响。
