European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 22 - Number 5
Eur J Anat, 22 (5): 415-418 (2018)

The inferior mesenteric artery arising as a persistence of the ventral longitudinal anastomosis: A rare anatomical variation

Aneesh Dave, Bardia Aryaie, Steven Gluckman, Rohan Dalal

Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

ABSTRACT Routine dissection of an 82-year-old cadaver demonstrated the inferior mesenteric artery arising from two roots: one from the coeliac trunk, and the other from the superior mesenteric artery. There was no discrete connection between the inferior mesenteric artery and the aorta. This variant artery gave off its characteristic branches, including left colic and sigmoidal branches.This can be explained as an abnormal persistence of the ventral longitudinal anastomotic channel. Furthermore, an understanding of the breadth of variations of mesenteric vasculature is essential to surgeons and proceduralists of the gastro-intestinal tract, and may have implications in cancer, retroperitoneal and endovascular surgery.

Keywords: Mesenteric vasculature â?? Inferior mesenteric artery â?? Variations

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)