We report an incidental finding of a coeliac trunk (CeT) hexafurcation in a 62-year-old female during computed tomography angiography, where the trunk sequentially branches off the left and right inferior phrenic arteries (IPAs) and the left gastric artery (LGA) as collateral branches, before a terminal trifurcation into the common hepatic (CHA), splenic (SA), and dorsal pancreatic (DPA) arteries. While the CeT typically trifurcates, hexafurcation is exceedingly rare. This variation likely stems from the failure of standard regression of primitive splanchnic arteries. The aberrant branches (IPA and DPA) are involved in numerous surgical and interventional procedures. Therefore, this image emphasizes the necessity of high-resolution preoperative imaging and three-dimensional reconstruction to identify complex vascular morphologies
Triantafyllou et al. (2026) studied this question.
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