What is it about?

There are known to be variations in the origins of the superior thyroid artery (STA), an important surgical landmark, and 1 of its branches, the superior laryngeal artery (SLA). Three hundred thirty human embalmed heminecks were dissected. The results of previous studies were reviewed, and a meta-analysis is presented. Four different origins for the STA were found. The most frequent was type I, from the carotid bifurcation (49%). Four different origins were also found for the SLA being the most frequent the type I in which the artery arose from STA (78%). The mean external diameters of STA and SLA were 0.26 and 0.20 cm, respectively, with no statistically significant differences by side or sex.

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Why is it important?

Variations in the origin of STA and SLA from the carotid arterial tree and the similarity of their diameters mean that there is a significant possibility of their misidentified during surgery.

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This page is a summary of: Anatomical variations of the superior thyroid and superior laryngeal arteries, Head & Neck, August 2009, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/hed.21077.
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