title: Inferior Phrenic Arteries and Their Branches, Their Anatomy and Possible Clinical Importance: An Experimental Cadaver Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization is a common treatment for patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma. If the carcinoma is advanced or the main arterial supply, the hepatic artery, is occluded, extrahepatic collateral arteries may develop. Both, right and left inferior phrenic arteries (RIPA and LIPA) are the most frequent and important among these collaterals. However, the topographic anatomy of these arteries has not been described in detail in anatomy textbooks, atlases and most previous reports.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the anatomy and branching patterns of RIPA and LIPA on cadavers and compare our results with the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive study.
  
  
  METHODS
  We bilaterally dissected 24 male and 2 female cadavers aged between 49 and 88 years for this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RIPA and LIPA originated as a common trunk in 5 cadavers. The RIPA originated from the abdominal aorta in 13 sides, the renal artery in 2 sides, the coeliac trunk in 1 side and the left gastric artery in 1 side. The LIPA originated from the abdominal aorta in 9 sides and the coeliac trunk in 6 sides. In 6 cadavers, the ascending and posterior branches of the LIPA had different sources of origin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As both the RIPA and LIPA represent the half of all extrahepatic arterial collaterals to hepatocellular carcinomas, their anatomy gains importance not only for anatomists but interventional radiologists as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: İlke Ali
authors.initials: İA
authors.lastname: Gürses
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Özcan
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Gayretli
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayşin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kale
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Öztürk
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Usta
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kayıhan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Şahinoğlu
keywords: Ascending branch; descending branch; inferior phrenic arteries; left inferior phrenic artery