Variations of Arterial Supply of the Liver: C.T. Angiographic Study Among Sudanese Adults
Sudan j. med. sci; 17 (3), 2022
Publication year: 2022
Hepatobiliary surgery through laparoscopic approach is becoming a routine.
Knowledge of extrahepatic arterial tree is essential for surgical and imaging
procedures. Anatomical complexity is expected since the liver is developed by
mergingof lobules with its separate blood supply. This makes a wide range of variations
in the pattern of vascular arrangement and so reinforces the need for an accurate
understanding of full spectrum of variations. This study aimed to investigate the
variations in origin and distribution of extrahepatic arterial supply. Fifty volunteers (32
males and 18 females) aged 20–70 years were randomly recruited from the department
of CT scan in Al Amal Hospital, Khartoum North, Sudan. The patients were already
candidates for CT angiography with contrast for conditions other than hepatobiliary
diseases. The reported data is related to those who accepted to participate in the
study. Patients with history of hepatobiliary disease were excluded. 3D views of the
scans were treated and the extrahepatic arterial tree was traced in a computer-based
software. Key findings suggest that Michel’s classification was considered the standard
template for description – 76% of them showed Michel’s type I classification. Types
III and V constituted about 2%. About 4% of the cases were represented by types
VI and IX. Other types of variations constituted about 12%. To conclude, although
type I classification which describes the textbook pattern of hepatic artery distribution
was significantly detected among the Sudanese population, other variants were to be
considered since they are related to major arteries like aorta and superior mesenteric.