Complex arterial patterning in an anatomical donor

Abstract

Case reports of individuals with a single variant or a limited number of localized variants are plentiful; however, systematic, whole-body study of cerebral, axial, and peripheral arterial variants in a single anatomical donor is lacking. This case report describes widespread arterial variants in a single donor. We report several remarkable variants in this case and then, discuss these finding with regards to clinical relevance, prior vascular variant studies and embryologic development. Additionally, combined probability calculations reveal that the probability of possessing this constellation of arterial variants, by chance, is 0.0001. Given this low probability, we hypothesize that our donor had a propensity for developing arterial variants and further, that the presence of multiple variants is related to disruption in vascular developmental pathways during the embryonic period. Such information has direct clinical relevance, particularly during invasive diagnostic and surgical procedures. Keywords: Arterial variant, Vascular variant, Branch variation, Whole-body