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Anatomical characteristics of two cases of aberrant right subclavian artery

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Abstract

An aberrant right subclavian artery is a branching variation of the aortic arch. We encountered two female cadavers with an aberrant right subclavian artery during routine student dissection at our school. In both cases, the right subclavian artery was not a branch of the brachiocephalic trunk but originated directly from the distal part of the aortic arch as the last branch and ran between the esophagus and vertebral column, traveling to the upper limb. The right recurrent laryngeal nerve was absent, but a non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve branching from the vagus and traveling directly toward the larynx was observed. In the first case, the right and left common carotid arteries originated solely from the aortic arch as the first and second branches, respectively, whereas the right and left common carotid arteries formed a bicarotid trunk at their origin in the second case. A Kommerell diverticulum was present at the base of the aberrant right subclavian artery in the second case, but not in the first case. We analyzed the anatomical differences between the two cases and discussed the developmental aspects and potential clinical risks.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank those who donated their bodies to science so that anatomical research could be performed. Results from such research can potentially increase mankind's overall knowledge that can then improve patient care. Therefore, these donors and their families deserve our highest gratitude. We thank Editage (www.editage.com) for the English language editing of our paper.

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Author notes

  1. Atsushi Itoh

    Present address: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kyoto Oral Health Care Center, Rakuwakai Otowa Hospital, 2 Chinji-cho, Otowa, Yamashina-ku, Kyoto, 607-8062, Japan

  2. Daisuke Kiyoshima

    Present address: Division of Basic Medical Science, Department of Anatomy, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa, 259-1193, Japan

  3. Taro Ito and Atsushi Itoh have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Aichi-Gakuin University School of Dentistry, 1-100 Kusumoto-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8650, Japan

    Taro Ito, Atsushi Itoh, Daisuke Kiyoshima & Yayoi Ikeda

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  1. Taro Ito
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  2. Atsushi Itoh
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  3. Daisuke Kiyoshima
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  4. Yayoi Ikeda
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by TI, AI, and YI. The first draft of the manuscript was written by YI, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yayoi Ikeda.

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Ito, T., Itoh, A., Kiyoshima, D. et al. Anatomical characteristics of two cases of aberrant right subclavian artery. Anat Sci Int 97, 423–427 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-022-00658-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-022-00658-7

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