Persistence of Ventrolateral Splanchnic Longitudinal Channels

Abstract

The coeliac trunk is the branch of the abdominal aorta at the level of the twelfth thoracic vertebra. Its branches namely left gastric, common hepatic and splenic arteries supply the primary organs of the supracolic abdominal compartment namely the stomach, pancreas, spleen and liver. In this article, we report case series of three cases in male cadavers aged 65yrs, 60yrs and 70yrs respectively in the Department of Anatomy, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences and MVJ Medical College and Research Institute wherein we discovered that the branching pattern of the coeliac trunk varied from the usual pattern, thus the specimens were photographed to understand further. The observation of first case, common trunk from abdominal aorta showed common hepatic and superior mesenteric artery and left gastric and splenic artery aroused as another common trunk from abdominal aorta. The second case showed the superior mesenteric artery arising from coeliac trunk and the third case was observed the inferior phrenic arteries were arising from coeliac trunk. Knowledge of this variable anatomy may be useful in planning and executing surgical or radiological interventions. KEY WORDS: Ventral splanchnic vessels, coeliac trunk, Superior mesenteric Artery, Inferior Phrenic artery, vascular variations.