The anatomical study of the corona mortis artery on three-dimensional computerized tomography angiography and its clinical significance

Abstract

Objective To investigate the incidence and location of the corona mortis artery by means of three dimensional (3D) reconstruction of computerized tomography angiography (CTA) as well as the clinical significance of the knowledge in the treatment of pelvic and acetabular fractures via ilioinguinal and Stoppa approaches.Methods Radiological and clinical data from 80 patients (160 hemi-pelvises) undergoing aorta abdominalis CTA between Deeember 2010 and May 2012 were collected.This study involved 34 males and 46 females,aged from 19 to 84 years (average,47.2 years).The.dicom format CTA data were used for 3D reconstruction using the Mimics software.The incidence and origin of the corona mortis artery crossing the superior pubic ramus into the obturator foramen were observed and the distances between the corona mortis artery and the pubic symphysis were measured on the 3D reconstruction images.The incidences were compared between hemi-pelvises,genders and age groups of ≤50 and ＞ 50 years.Results In the 160 hemi-pelvises,altogether 29 corona mortis arteries were detected,giving a total incidence of 18.1％ (29/160).Of them,14(14/80,17.5％) were found on the left side and 15 (15/80,18.8％) on the right; 16(16/92,17.4％) in the female patients and 13 (13/68,19.1％) in the male patients; 14 (14/98,14.3％) in the ≤50 age group and 15(15/62,24.2％) in the ＞ 50 age group.There were no significant differences regarding the incidence between hemi-pelvises,genders or age groups (P ＞ 0.05).The distances between the corona mortis artery and the pubic symphysis averaged 53.70 ±4.00 mm.Conclusions Since CTA 3D reconstruction images can clearly demonstrate the corona mortis artery,abdominal aorta CTA should be recommended before operative treatment of pelvic and acetabular fractures via the ilioinguinal and Stoppa approaches to make sure that no operative accident will occur due to presence of the corona mortis artery.We should be alert to this artery variation when stripping the suprapubic area 53.70 ± 4.00 mm to the edge of the pubic symphysis. Key words: Artery; Imaging, three-dimensional; Anatomy