Internal Thoracic Artery Encircled by an Unusual Phrenic Nerve Loop

We report an anatomic variation of the phrenic nerve. During a routine gross anatomical dissection course at our medical university, we found an unusual loop of the left phrenic nerve around the internal thoracic artery, about 1 cm from the take-off of the left subclavian artery. The phrenic nerve i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 2007-12, Vol.106 (12), p.1069-1070
Main Authors: Chen, Robert Fu-Chean, Tsai, Yung-Yu, Jeng, Hellen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
coronary artery bypass graft
Internal Medicine
internal thoracic artery
phrenic nerve
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Summary:We report an anatomic variation of the phrenic nerve. During a routine gross anatomical dissection course at our medical university, we found an unusual loop of the left phrenic nerve around the internal thoracic artery, about 1 cm from the take-off of the left subclavian artery. The phrenic nerve is close to the internal thoracic artery and is easily injured when dissecting the internal thoracic artery for coronary artery bypass conduit. Therefore, we suggest that the anatomic relationship of the phrenic nerve and internal thoracic artery is important in preventing incidental injury of the phrenic nerve.
ISSN:0929-6646
1876-0821
DOI:10.1016/S0929-6646(08)60086-8