Common celiaco-mesenterico-phrenic trunk and renal vascular variations Satheesha Nayak B, MSc, PhD. C eliac artery is a ventral branch of abdominal aorta. Both the left and right kidneys receive their arterial supply from one renal artery each from the abdominal aorta. Inferior phrenic arteries are usually the lateral branches of abdominal aorta. The supra renal glands received their arterial supply through the 3 suprarenal arteries; one from inferior phrenic artery, one from the abdominal aorta, and the other from the renal artery. The right testicular vein is a tributary of the inferior vena cava. Variations in all these vessels have been reported earlier. Case Report. During the gross anatomy dissection of the abdomen of a 60-year-old male cadaver, we observed multiple variations in the upper abdominal vessels. The celiac trunk, superior mesenteric artery, and a common trunk of 2 inferior phrenic arteries originated together as a celiaco-mesenterico-phrenic From the Department of Anatomy, Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus), International Centre for Health Sciences, Madhav Nagar, Manipal, Udupi District, Karnataka State, India. Received 25th February 2006. Accepted for publication in final form 11th June 2006. Address correspondence and reprint request to: Dr. Satheesha Nayak B, Department of Anatomy, Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus), International Centre for Health Sciences, Madhav Nagar, Manipal, Udupi District, Karnataka State, India. Tel. + 91 (820) 2922519. Fax. + 91 (820) 2571905. E-mail: nayaksathish@yahoo.com 1894 trunk (Figure 1). This trunk was approximately 2 cm long (usual length of celiac trunk is approximately 1.25 cm as available in the medical literature) and trifurcated to give a celiac trunk, a superior mesenteric artery, and an inferior phrenic trunk. The further course and branches of the celiac and superior mesenteric arteries were normal. However, the celiac trunk had approximately 2 cm course before its termination. The inferior phrenic trunk divided into 2 inferior phrenic arteries, which coursed to the corresponding domes of the diaphragm (Figure 1). This variation was associated with variations of the right renal and suprarenal vessels. There were 2 renal arteries of equal size on the right side (Figure 1). The upper renal artery are divided into 3 branches before entering the kidney. The lower renal artery crossed the upper renal artery near the hilum. It entered the kidney with the superior renal vein. It gave 2 The knowledge of vascular variations like other anatomical variations, is important during the operative, diagnostic, and endovascular procedures in abdomen. This report describes multiple variations in the upper abdominal vessels as found during the routine dissection in a 60-year-old male cadaver. The variations found were; presence of a celiaco- mesenterico-phrenic trunk, a common inferior phrenic trunk, 2 right renal arteries originating from abdominal aorta, 2 suprarenal arteries originating from the lower right renal artery, 3 right renal veins opening separately into inferior vena cava, and termination of right testicular vein into the lowest vein among the 3 right renal veins. The existence of a celiaco- mesenterico-phrenic trunk has not been reported yet. Although, other variations reported in this case exist as individual variations, a concomitant variation of them has not been reported yet. The knowledge of such variations is quite useful in planning any upper abdominal surgery. Saudi Med J 2006; Vol. 27 (12): 1894-1896 ABSTRACT Case Reports