title: Anatomical variations of the cystic artery.
abstract: Thorough knowledge about the origin of the cystic artery is surgically important, especially when intraoperative or post-operative bleeding occurs in the gallbladder fossa. The arterial supply of the gallbladder was studied in 81 livers. The gallbladder was supplied by one cystic artery in 86% and by two arteries in 14% of cases. When a single artery was present, it originated from the right hepatic artery in 53% of livers. Other origins included the anterior or the posterior sectional hepatic artery, the replacing right hepatic artery, and in 5% of cases, segmental arteries for segments 4, 5, 6 and 8. When two cystic arteries supplied the gallbladder, both most commonly originated from the right hepatic artery (7% incidence). In 1% of cases, a subsegmental branch for segment 6 and a subsegmental branch for segment 5 respectively, originated from the cystic artery.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy, Medical Faculty, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Bostjan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mlakar
authors.forename: Eldar M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Gadzijev
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ravnik
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hribernik
mesh_terms: D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002102:Cadaver; D016319:Corrosion Casting; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000098:blood supply*; D006499:Hepatic Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans