Common hepatic artery arising from the left gastric artery: a case report using MDCT angiography and a brief review of the literature

Abstract

We report a very rare case of a 67-year-old male with the presence of a common hepatic artery (CHA) arising from the left gastric artery (LGA) in association with a presence of a gastro-splenic trunk (GST), found incidentally on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography, used to investigate peripheral vascular disease. The GST arises from the anterior aspect of the abdominal aorta (AA), at the level of lower 1∕3 of L1 vertebral body. The GST has a slightly concave trajectory to the right, and ends dividing into splenic artery (SA) and LGA. In the initial part of its trajectory, the SA it is wedged at 180°, pointing to the left, to the splenic hilum. The LGA has two different portions: the first dilated, initially oriented towards the higher, and then aligns to the infero-lateral left and gives birth to the second portion; the narrow portion, oriented initially horizontally, and then lower to the right. Dilated portion of LGA is continued with CHA. The CHA trunk is cuddling in a horizontal plane, at 180°, and is then oriented towards the fissure of the ligamentum venosum for entering in the liver parenchyma. At 51.7 mm from the origin, the CHA gives rise to the left hepatic artery (LHA), and after another 58 mm to the right hepatic artery (RHA), and finally continues with the gastroduodenal artery (GDA). Knowledge of this anatomical variation should be considered in planning and performing vascular surgery in the supramesocolic floor of the abdominal cavity.