Comparison of Aortic Arch Branching Patterns between Bicuspid and Tricuspid Aortic Valve Patients in Qatar

Abstract

The aortic arch and its branches form during the third week of embryogenesis, which involves a complex process. Abnormalities of the arch branching pattern arise by persistence of segments of arches that normally disappear or the disappearance of segments of arches that normally remain, or both [1]. The most common human aortic arch branching pattern has the innominate artery, the left common carotid artery and the left subclavian artery all as separate branches (Fig. 1). The most common variant branching pattern involves the left common carotid artery arising in a common origin with the innominate artery (Fig. 2), and the next most common the similar left common carotid artery originating from the innominate artery itself (Fig. 3). A true bovine arch involves a single common brachiocephalic trunk arising from the arch which then splits into the right subclavian artery, a bicarotid trunk and a left subclavian artery (Fig. 4), and is actually extremely uncommon in humans [2]. Originally the variations of t...