A rare occurrence of an accessory thyroid artery

As most anatomy atlases will illustrate, thyroid glands receive their blood supply from one superior thyroid artery arising from the external carotid artery, and from one inferior thyroid artery, branching off the thyrocervical trunk, which also gives rise to the suprascapular, transverse cervical and ascending cervical arteries. In addition to its branches to the inferior region of the thyroid gland, the inferior thyroid artery also vascularizes the parathyroid glands, pharynx, larynx and esophagus. Relatively few textbooks include descriptions of variations in the vessels supplying structures in the neck. Some mention variations in branches of the subclavian artery or the presence of an variant branch directly off the common carotid artery. The most detailed description of arterial variations associated with the recurrent laryngeal nerve, for example, can be found in an anatomy textbook written by Lanz-Wachsmuth [1]. Although this information is very important for surgeons, newer textbooks seldom report cervical vascular variations and only a few articles have been published that describe such variations.