Eur J Anat, 6 (2): 109-113 (2002)

Variants of the thyrocervical trunk and its branches in human bodies

Lopez-Muniz A., Garcia-Fernendez C., Hernandez L.C., Suarez-Garnacho S.

Dpto. de Morfol. y Biologia Celular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, E-33071-Oviedo, Spain

ABSTRACT The thyrocervical trunk or thyrobicervicoscapular trunk of Faraboeuf (TT) is a branch of the subclavian artery. In most cases, the following arteries arise from here: inferior thyroid artery (ITA), transverse cervical artery (TCA) and the suprascapular artery (SSA). However, this trunk can show many variants. We dissected the supraclavicular region of 22 human bodies (12 males, 10 females) with the aim of studying the subclavian artery, and principally the TT (22 right trunks and 18 left ones), its disposition and number of branches, the existence of infundibular dilation, and the thickness of the branches. A statistical analysis of the data was performed. Our results show that the most frequent type of TT is that of 2 branches. No significant differences were found between the number of branches of the TT, nor with respect to sex or side. The infundibular region of the TT is an anatomical variant of considerable interest, this variant being more frequent in males on the right side and in trunks with a greater number of branches. The most frequent variants in our study with respect to the classic description were: the presentation of the ascending cervical artery (ACA) as a branch both of the TCA and of the TT; that of the TCA as a branch of the SSA or the subclavian, and the origin of the SSA directly from the subclavian artery itself. The calibre of the branches of one side or another was different, the most frequent observation being that the branches of the right side were thicker than those of the left. Our results confirm the high variability of the TT and its branches, which must be considered of interest given the frequency with which this region is involved in both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Keywords: anatomical variation, arterial trunk, article, blood vessel wall, congenital blood vessel malformation, female, human, human tissue, male, sex difference, statistical analysis, subclavian artery, thyrocervical trunk