E-Pearl of the Week
Brought to you by the Resident and Fellow Section of Neurology.
November 04, 2009
Don't get caught with a "bovine arch"
A common misnomer in the medical literature is the "bovine aortic arch," referring to an arrangement of the aortic arch and great vessels seen in cattle. The most common branching pattern in the human aortic arch consists of separate origins for the innominate, left common carotid, and left subclavian arteries. There are two variations of this pattern that are often erroneously referred to as a "bovine arch" pattern:
- A common trunk for the innominate and left carotid arteries;
- The left carotid as a branch of the innominate artery
With both of these variations, the left subclavian artery originates directly from the aorta. The typical branching pattern in cattle is quite different and consists of one single great vessel originating from the aorta, the brachiocephalic trunk, which gives rise to the bilateral subclavian arteries and to a bicarotid trunk.
Layton KF, Kallmes DF, Croft HJ, Lindell EP, Cox VS. Bovine aortic arch variant in humans: clarification of a common misnomer. AJNR 2006;27:1541–1542.
Submitted by Ryan Overman, MD.
Disclosures:
Dr. Overman is a member of the Resident & Fellow Team and Podcast Committee for the Neurology
For more clinical pearls and other articles of interest to neurology trainees, visit the Resident and Fellow Pages.
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Past E-Pearls
- Cervical MRI with anterior flexion in juvenile distal segmental muscular atrophy (October 28, 2009)
- Paraspinal myotonic discharges in acid maltase deficiency (October 12, 2009)
- Capgras syndrome (September 30, 2009)
- Mirror Movements (September 23, 2009)
- Commonly encountered limitations to nerve conduction studies: (August 12, 2009)
- EEG findings in Moyamoya disease (August 05, 2009)
- Provocation of symptoms in Moyamoya disease (July 29, 2009)
- Thoracic outlet syndrome and retrograde cerebral embolism (July 22, 2009)
- HTLV-1 and tropical spastic paraparesis (July 14, 2009)
- Applause sign (July 09, 2009)
- Headache in ischemic stroke (July 01, 2009)
Visit the E-Pearls Archive (June 2008–June 2009).