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International Journal of Recent Trends in Science and Technology, ISSN 2277-2812 E-ISSN: 2249-8109

Volume 12, Issue 2, September 2014 pp 280-284

Research Article

Evaluation of anatomical variations in aortic arch branching pattern in south Indian population using computed tomography

Ram Shenoy Basti¹, Sanjay Kumar²

¹Assistant Professor, ²Junior Resident, Department of Radio diagnosis, Father Muller Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, INDIA.

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Anatomical variations can occur in the aortic arch branching pattern and the frequency of various types vary in different population groups. These are likely due to alterations in the development of aortic arch arteries during embryonic period. These variations are significant for diagnostic and surgical procedures in head and neck. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of the aortic arch branch variations on CT in the local population and thus provide useful data to intervention radiologists, vascular, head and neck and thoracic surgeons. Materials and Methods: CT scans of the chest of a total of 306 patients performed in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively and assessed for the origin of the major aortic branches. Axial images are primarily used for assessment. Thereafter necessary reformatted multiplanar and curved reformatted images, MIP, VR images were used to assign each patient is assigned into a particular type of the branch variation. Results: The most common aortic arch branching pattern - type 1 was found in 274 of 306 cases (89.5%). In this pattern three major branches - Brachiocephalic trunk (BT), Left common carotid (LCC) and Left subclavian (LS) originated independently from the arch of aorta. Second commonest branching pattern was type 2 which was found in 16 of 306 cases (5.2%). This pattern had only two branches - The first was a common trunk designated as great trunk (GT) which gave the brachiocephalic trunk and left common carotid artery. The other was the left subclavian artery. Third common branching pattern was type 3 which was seen in 14 of 306 cases (4.6%), which had four branches: Brachiocephalic trunk, left common carotid artery, left subclavian artery and left vertebral artery (LV). Two rare variants were found, 1 case each (0.3%). One had four branches: right common carotid, left common carotid, left subclavian and aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSC). This has been called the type 4 variant. The other had three branches: great trunk, left vertebral artery and left subclavian artery ( type 6 variant).