Independent origin of the hepatic and splenic arteries from the abdominal aorta: CT demonstration.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this work was to illustrate the CT appearance of the independent origin of the hepatic and splenic arteries from the abdominal aorta.


METHODS
A retrospective review of available scans from 159 consecutive contrast-enhanced abdominal CT examinations was undertaken to document the frequency with which this vascular variant is seen at helical CT.


RESULTS
Independent origin of the hepatic and splenic arteries was seen in 2 of 159 examinations (1.3%). This correlates well with the 1% incidence reported in the angiographic and surgical literature.


CONCLUSIONS
Independent origin of the hepatic and splenic arteries from the aorta should be seen in approximately 1% of abdominal CT examinations. Knowledge of this vascular variant and its CT appearance may prevent confusion or mislabeling.
Department of Radiology/TC2910, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109-0326, USA.
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E
Oh
B H
BH
Gross
D M
DM
Williams
D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006499:Hepatic Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013157:Splenic Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed