Anatomic variants of arteries often coil-occluded prior to hepatic radioembolization.
BACKGROUND
Prior to radioembolization (RE) treatment of malignant liver lesions, many interventionalists occlude the right gastric artery (RGA), the cystic artery (CA), and the gastroduodenal artery (GDA) to prevent radioactive microspheres from entering non-target vessels.


OBJECTIVE
To systematically analyze anatomic variants of arteries that are important to know for the interventional radiologist performing RE of the liver.


METHODS
The computed tomography (CT) angiographies and conventional angiographies of 166 patients evaluated for RE were retrospectively analyzed for the presence of anatomic variants of the RGA, GDA, and CA.


RESULTS
The RGA was found to arise from the left hepatic artery in 42% of cases, from the proper hepatic artery in 40%, from the GDA in 10%, from the right hepatic artery in 4%, and from the common hepatic artery in 3% of cases. The GDA originated in the common hepatic artery in 97% of cases, in the left hepatic artery in 2%, and in the celiac trunk in 1% of cases. The CA arose from the right hepatic artery in 96% of cases and from the GDA in 2% of cases; in 2% of our study population, the gallbladder was supplied by small branches from the liver parenchyma.


CONCLUSIONS
Variant anatomy of the RGA is common, while it is quite rare for the GDA and CA. Knowledge of the variations of liver supplying arteries helps the interventionalist to embolize necessary vessels prior to RE.
Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany maciej-janusz.powerski@charite.de.
Maciej J
MJ
Powerski
Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Christoph
C
Erxleben
Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Christian
C
Scheurig-Münkler
Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Dominik
D
Geisel
Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Bernd
B
Hamm
Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Bernhard
B
Gebauer
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000379:methods; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006499:Hepatic Artery / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome
Angiography; CT; anatomy; embolization; liver