title: Correlations between posterior gastric artery and superior polar artery in human anatomy.
abstract: We investigated the correlations in incidence and anatomy of 2 splenic artery branches, the Posterior Gastric Artery (PGA) and the Superior Polar Artery (SPA). In the literature these 2 branches were never described on one and the same splenic artery. We studied the splenic arteries of 126 corpses and found a cranio-sinistrally directed branch of the splenic artery in 76.2%. It appeared as a PGA (only stomachial supply) in 27.7% and as a SPA (only splenic supply) in 3.27%. In the most cases we detected an intermediate-type--we called it "gastrosplenic artery = GSA"--having a posterior gastric and a superior polar branch simultaneously. Such a "gastrosplenic artery" leaves the main trunk of the splenic artery in its middle segment in cranio--sinistral direction and falls apart into a posterior gastric and a superior splenic branch both with various differences in caliber. All these variations are described, nomenclature and the functional and surgical importance of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institut of Anatomy, School of Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Trubel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rokitansky
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Turkof
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Firbas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013154:Spleen / Q000098:blood supply*; D013157:Splenic Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013270:Stomach / Q000098:blood supply*