title: [Persistence of the stapedial artery: three cases].
abstract: The authors report three cases of persistence of the stapedial artery, discovered by computed tomography examination. For two cases, a clinical symptomatology was present but probably related to the association with an aberrant carotid artery in the middle ear; the only case of isolated persistence of the stapedial artery was asymptomatic. Direct visualisation of the abnormal artery was possible on the C. T. scans in two cases and a collateral sign as a larger tympanic part of the facial canal was found in the third case inducing a MRI. The incidence of this anomaly is 0.48 per cent from 1,045 dissections of temporal bones but it is generally clinically unrecognized. The hyoïdo-stapedial artery appears and develops at the 7-18 mm embryonic stages. Partial or complete persistence have been described associated with no regression or no division of the ventral pharyngeal artery.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Anatomie de la Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé de Brest. bernard.senecail@univ-brest.fr
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sénécail
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meriot
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Letourmy
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forlodou
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nonent
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries / Q000002:abnormalities*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013198:Stapedius