Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75 Mikras Asias str, Goudi, Athens, 11527, Greece.
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
Surg Radiol Anat. 2024 Sep;46(9):1525-1530. doi: 10.1007/s00276-024-03436-4. Epub 2024 Jul 13.
The occipital artery (OA) typically originates from the external carotid artery (ECA). Variations of the ECA has been well described in the current literature, while the OA is a relatively stable vessel, and its variations are uncommon. In the current case report, an aberrant OA has been found coexisting with a linguofacial trunk (LFT) on the right hemineck of a 51-year-old male patient. The OA was identified originating from the cervical internal carotid artery (ICA) at the level of the second cervical vertebra (C2). On the ECA, the lingual and facial arteries were emanating in common, as LFT. The left hemineck of the patient was free of variations. The current coexistence of arterial variants has been reported only once previously; therefore, the current case corresponds to the second case in the English literature. The aberrant OA origin from the ICA has been estimated with a pooled prevalence of 0.37%, while the origin at the C2 level and from the anterior surface of the ICA corresponds to a very rare variation. Additionally, the LFT is one of the most common trunk that can be found on the ECA. Interventional radiologists and surgeons must be aware of common and uncommon variation to avoid iatrogenic lesion.
枕动脉(OA)通常起源于颈外动脉(ECA)。ECA 的变异在当前文献中已有很好的描述,而 OA 是一种相对稳定的血管,其变异并不常见。在本病例报告中,在一名 51 岁男性患者的右侧颈部分别发现了一条异常的 OA 和舌面干。OA 被确定起源于第二颈椎(C2)水平的颈内动脉(ICA)。在 ECA 上,舌动脉和面动脉共同发出,形成舌面干。患者的左侧颈部无变异。目前仅报道过一次这种动脉变异的共存;因此,本病例是英文文献中的第二例。OA 起源于 ICA 的异常起源估计占 0.37%,而起源于 C2 水平和 ICA 前表面的情况则非常罕见。此外,舌面干是 ECA 上最常见的干之一。介入放射科医生和外科医生必须了解常见和不常见的变异,以避免医源性损伤。