Atypical arterial supply to the spleen by polar branches of splenic artery and accessory splenic artery - A case report

Vascular anomalies of the spleen are usually asymptomatic. However, variant anatomy of splenic artery becomes clinically important, when the patients undergo diagnostic angiography for gastrointestinal bleeding or during transcatheter therapy. We report here a concurrent variant arterial pattern of the spleen. The splenic artery was unusually elongated and excessively tortuous. Prior to its normal termination into segmental arteries, it gave superior and inferior polar arteries which entered the spleen distal to corresponding ends of the splenic hilum. In addition to this, the spleen also received an additional blood supply from an accessory splenic artery arising from left gastro-epiploic artery. The accessory splenic artery entered the substance of the spleen through its lateral end. Presence of such kind of concurrent variant arterial pattern of spleen makes the surgeons obligatory to have prior knowledge to prevent bleeding during any surgical or radiological interventional procedures targeting the spleen, pancreas etc.