No abstract

A rare combination of variations in the arterial supply of the liver and gallbladder was encountered in a male cadaver. The simultaneous occurrence of an accessory left hepatic artery and an accessory right hepatic artery from which double cystic arteries arose (one of which was low-lying). This combination has not yet been reported. The accessory left hepatic artery originated from the left gastric artery. The accessory right hepatic artery originated from the superior mesenteric artery. Such arterial variations are caused by differences in embryological development. This, however, may lead to complications related to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the upper abdomen.

No abstract

Fusion of the atlas with the occipital bone is a rare congenital dysplasia known as occipitalization of the atlas, occipitocervical synostosis, assimilation of the atlas, or atlanto-occipital fusion. It is a component of the paraxial mesodermal maldevelopment and commonly associated with other dysplasias of the craniovertebral junction. External auditory canal atresia or external aural atresia is a rare congenital absence of the external auditory canal. It occurs as the consequence of the maldevelopment of the first pharyngeal cleft due to defects of cranial neural crest cells migration and/or differentiation. It is commonly associated with the dysplasias of the structures derived from the first and second pharyngeal arches including microtia. We present the coexistence of the occipitalization of the atlas and congenital aural atresia, an uncommon combination of the paraxial mesodermal maldevelopment, and defects of cranial neural crest cells. The association is most probably syndromic as minimal diagnostic criteria for the oculoariculovertebral spectrum are fulfilled. From the clinical point of view, it is important to be aware that patients with microtia must obtain also appropriate diagnostic imaging studies of the craniovetebral junction due to eventual concomitant occipitalization of the atlas and frequently associated C1-C2 instability.