Anatomical Variations of Aortic Arch Branching Pattern Among the Chinese

Either from congenital or ischemic problems, difficulties in aortic bypass surgery are usually caused by the unrecognized variation of aortic arch anatomy. Objective: To investigate the frequency and anatomical basis of the aortic arch branching pattern from the world largest hospital. Materials and Methods: Thirty eight adult human preserved cadavers, and one thousand fifty three aortic arches analyzed from images of computerized tomography and aortic angiography were used. Occurrence among gender, branching pattern of the aortic arch was studied; number of branches and distance from their origin to the mid-vertebrae line were measured. Results: In 81.3% of the cases, the main most common brachiocephalic trunk, left common carotid and left subclavian artery originate independently. From the remaining variants of the aortic arch: 13.2% have two branches, an independent left subclavian artery and a common trunk for the brachiocephalic trunk and left common carotid. 4.8% has four branches with the left vertebral artery; 0.4% having the left common carotid artery originating from a common trunk. Any other variation falls within 0.1%. However, a strong significant positive correlation was found between the diameters of left common carotid artery and left subclavian artery. Conclusion: The results in this study provide accurate information on aortic arch variations considered vital for academic purpose, and clinical vascular surgery and a primary data among the Chinese.