Origin of left accessory hepatic artery from the left gastric artery in a South Indian cadaver: Its clinical importance.

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increase in number of transplantation surgeries, especially live donor liver transplantation in the western countries. In view of this, anatomical variations of hepatobiliary vessels gained special attention from anatomists, gastroenterological surgeons and interventional radiologists. These variations are of concern in hepatobiliary surgical procedures so as to minimize risk of complications for optimal success rates. We report a case of accessory hepatic artery that arose from the left gastric artery, entered the liver at an independent site from the porta hepatis to supply the left lobe of the liver. Transplantation of such livers with multi vascular pedicles may pose a challenge during anastomosis of these accessory hepatic arteries of the donor liver to the nearby arteries of the recipient.

Keywords: Hepatic artery; Liver transplantation; Hepato biliary surgeries; Multivascular pedicles;Clinical significance.