Background

To identify the anatomical variations of the main branches of the external carotid artery (lingual, facial, occipital, ascending pharyngeal and sternocleidomastoid), giving information about the calibers and origins with the aim of creating a new classification useful in clinical practice.

Material and methods

193 human embalmed body-donors were dissected. The data collected were analyzed using the Chi² test. The results of previous studies were reviewed.

Results

The majority of the anterior arterial branches (superior thyroid, facial and lingual artery) were observed with an independent origin, respectively, classified as pattern I (80.83%, 156/193). In 17.62% (34/193) a linguofacial trunk, pattern II, has been observed, only in 1,04% (2/193) a thyrolingual trunk, pattern III, has been found and in one case (1/193, 0.52%) one thyrolinguofacial trunk, pattern IV, was found. Depending on the posterior branches (occipital and ascending pharyngeal), four different types could be determined: type a, the posterior arteries originated independently, type b, the posterior arteries originated in a common trunk, type c, the ascending pharyngeal artery was absent, type d, the occipital artery was absent.

Conclusion

Anatomical variations in these arteries are relevant in daily clinical practice due to growing applications, e.g., in Interventional Radiology techniques. Knowledge of these anatomical references could help clinicians in the interpretation of the carotid system.

中文翻译：

---

与日常临床实践相关的颈外动脉侧支的解剖图

背景

识别颈外动脉主要分支（舌、面、枕、咽上行和胸锁乳突肌）的解剖变异，提供有关口径和起源的信息，目的是创建一个在临床实践中有用的新分类。

材料与方法

解剖了 193 名经过防腐处理的人体捐献者。使用 Chi² 检验分析收集的数据。回顾了以往研究的结果。

结果

大多数前动脉分支（甲状腺上动脉、面动脉和舌动脉）分别具有独立的起源，被归类为模式 I (80.83%, 156/193)。在 17.62% (34/193) 的情况下观察到了舌面干，即模式 II，只有 1.04% (2/193) 发现了甲状腺舌干，即模式 III，在一个病例中 (1/193, 0.52 %) 发现了一个甲状腺舌面干，模式 IV。根据后支（枕部和咽升动脉）的不同，可以确定四种不同的类型：a型，后动脉独立起源，b型，后动脉起源于共同的干，c型，咽升动脉不存在， d型，枕动脉缺失。

结论

由于应用的不断增加，例如在介入放射学技术中，这些动脉的解剖变异与日常临床实践相关。了解这些解剖参考可以帮助临床医生解释颈动脉系统。