Retroscalenic course of the transverse cervical artery with the suprascapular artery travelling through the suprascapular notch

Abstract

Anatomical variations of the transverse cervical and suprascapular arteries are common. We report an adult male cadaver found to harbour an unusual variation of the right course of these two arteries. The transverse cervical artery arose independently from the first segment of the subclavian artery and passed deep to the anterior scalene muscle, a course which, to our knowledge, has not been reported before. Simultaneously, the ipsilateral suprascapular artery arose from the third segment of the subclavian artery and travelled posteriorly with the suprascapular nerve deep to the suprascapular ligament. We believe this is the first report of such a simultaneous occurrence. Copyright آ© 2007 Via Medica.