14 - Hepatosplenomesenteric Trunk: A Rare Variation in the Abdominal Vasculature of a Human Cadaver

Poster Board Number: 14
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Abstract Body : Variations in the vascular branching patterns within the abdominal cavity are common. The celiac trunk is normally observed generating three branches: the common hepatic artery, left gastric artery, and splenic artery. During a routine dissection, second-year medical students discovered multiple variations in the blood supply to the foregut in a 94-year-old male donor. The variations were related to the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery. In place of the classic celiac trunk, a hepatosplenomesenteric trunk was found with a left gastric artery emerging from the abdominal aorta. A hepatosplenomesenteric trunk is a rare aortic branch variation consisting of a single trunk that originates from the abdominal aorta before bifurcating into a superior mesenteric artery and a hepatosplenic trunk, which then gives rise to a common hepatic artery and splenic artery. The remaining abdominal aortic vasculature was normal, except for the presence of bilateral accessory renal arteries supplying a horseshoe kidney. Awareness and understanding of such variations is critical to appropriate clinical assessment and management, particularly radiographic evaluation and procedures, as well as surgical intervention relating to gastrointestinal organs.