Replaced right hepatic artery in cadaveric specimen

Introduction The right hepatic artery generally arises from the common hepatic artery, a branch of the coeliac trunk, to supply the right lobe of the liver. Most commonly, the hepatic artery has its origin in the coeliac trunk. It then passes anterolaterally to the first part of the duodenum and bifurcates into the hepatic artery proper and gastroduodenal artery. After passing anterior to the portal vein it ascends to the porta hepatis where it divides into right and left branches. The right hepatic artery usually passes posterior to the common hepatic duct. An accessory or replaced right hepatic artery from the superior mesenteric artery “runs behind the portal vein and bile duct in the lesser omentum” [1]. It is common to have anatomical variations in the hepatic arterial supply due to variant embryological development of the ventral arteries of the foregut and failure of these vessels to regress [2]. Separate studies [3–7] have shown in fact that hepatic vasculature is of the classical “textbook” supply in only 55-76% of specimens. However, the authors believe this is the first photographed and documented course of a replaced right hepatic artery (RRHA) emerging from the coeliac trunk.