A PERSISTENT FUNCTIONAL ARTERY CONNECTING THE THYROCERVICAL TRUNK ANDTHE AORTIC-ARCH - EMBRYONIC REMNANT OR IMPORTANT AORTIC VAS VASORUM

During the dissection of the neck region of a 56 year old female cadav er an artery was found branching from the thyrocervical trunk as a fou rth branch and entering the aortic arch on its superior posterior aspe ct between the brachiocephalic trunk and the left common carotid arter y. Selective angiography revealed that this artery branched into sever al arterioles at its junction on the superior aspect of the aortic arc h between the brachiocephalic trunk and the left common carotid artery . No similar structure could be found in the literature. Evaluation of this phenomenon according to our knowledge of the development of huma n arterial networks, it was concluded that the artery might be a persi stent intersegmental artery, or an enlarged nutrient artery (vas vasor um) to the aortic arch.