Vertebral Arteria Lusoria-Hyrtl's Original Description (1859), Case Illustration, and Literature Analysis

Overview

Journal Surg Radiol Anat

Specialties Anatomy & Histology
General Surgery
Radiology

Date 2024 Aug 5

PMID 39102042

Authors

Philippe Gailloud

Affiliations

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Abstract

Purpose: A translation of the initial observation of vertebral arteria lusoria reported by Hyrtl in 1859 is followed by a review of all cases published until May 2023 to identify the anatomical and clinical features characterizing the typical form of this rare variant.

Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, and Google queries were performed with "vertebral arteria lusoria", "retroesophageal vertebral artery", and "aberrant vertebral artery" as keywords (in English, German, and French). A feature was considered typical when present in at least 75% of analyzed cases. A case of incidentally discovered vertebral arteria lusoria illustrates the typical form of the variant.

Results: The analysis of 56 publications yielded 66 observations of right-sided vertebral arteria lusoria published between 1859 and May 2023. A small caliber, a retro-esophageal location, and passage through the foramen transversarium of C7 were typical. There was no evidence of association with clinical symptoms or other cardiovascular anomalies.

Conclusion: A typical vertebral arteria lusoria is an incidentally discovered nondominant aberrant right VA originating from the proximal descending aorta and following a retro-esophageal course to enter the C7 foramen transversarium, without associated aortic arch branching anomalies or congenital cardiovascular pathologies.

Citing Articles

Vertebral Arteria Lusoria and Five Vessel Aortic Arch: A Rare Aortic Arch Branching Anomaly.

Singh R, Ojha V, Ramakrishnan S, Shukla R, Kumar S Cureus. 2024; 16(8):e67988.

PMID: 39347361 PMC: 11427962. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.67988.

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