Arteria Vertebral Izquierda Aberrante

Abstract

An anatomical variation of the left vertebral artery, detected in a cadaver used for teaching purposes in the Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Chile is presented. In this case, the aortic arch gives rise, from right to left, to the following branches: the brachiocephalic artery, the left common carotid artery, the aberrant vertebral left artery and, finally, the left subclavian artery. The aberrant left vertebral artery originates from the top of the aortic arch, presenting here a diameter of 4 mm, then ascends to the left of the common carotid ipsilateral, over the anterolateral aspect of the spine, making contact with cardiac branches of the cervical sympathetic trunk. After ascending 95 mm, occupying the upper mediastinum and the root of the neck, the artery enters the transverse foramen of the 6th cervical vertebra, where its diameter was reduced to 2.65 mm. In this paper we discuss the development of the cervical dorsal intersegmental arteries in the left antimera, process that could explain this anatomical variation.