Anomalous Origin of Left Vertebral Artery from the Arch of Aorta and Presence of Double Ascending Pharyngeal Artery on the Left Side: a Case Report

Address for Correspondence: Dr Rajarshi Roy, Post Graduate Trainee, Department of Anatomy, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research, Kolkata-700020, West Bengal, India. Mobile no.: 9433110980 E-Mail: [email protected] Backgrounds: The vertebral artery, being a part of the subclavian arterial system, has significant contribution in cerebral vasculature. Several researchers have reported anomalous origins of the vertebral artery earlier. Reporting of this relatively rare anomalous origin of vertebral artery with associated other vascular anomalies may help to widen the medical record regarding this important arterial system and henceforth will give broader idea to the clinicians about the possible variations during surgical and interventional procedures on this arterial system. Results: The anomalous origin of left vertebral artery from aortic arch and other associated vascular anomalies were noted during the routine academic dissection in an embalmed male cadaver of 70 yrs in the said institution’s anatomy department. On the left side the vertebral artery originated from arch of aorta instead of subclavian artery between left common carotid artery and left subclavian artery. Also there were two ascending pharyngeal arteries on the left side originating from the external carotid artery; tThe branches from one supplied the pharynx (pharyngeal trunk) and the other one provided meningeal branches (neuromeningeal trunk). On the right side the origin of the vertebral artery and the number of ascending pharyngeal artery were both normal. Conclusions: Anatomical and morphological variations of the vertebral artery are of immense importance in surgery, angiography and other non-invasive and invasive clinical procedures. So it is of great importance to know the possible rare variations of the origin of the vertebral artery along with this rare instance of double ascending pharyngeal artery on left side.