Alma Voljevica

An unusual renal accessory artery originating from the thoracic aorta and its potential clinical implications.

UNLABELLED We report a case of an unsual anatomical vascular blood supply to the right kidney. In an analysis of kidneys, by dissection of 39 foetuses, additional renal arteries were found in 18 cases (46.15%). In only one case (2.5%) was it noticed that the right kidney was supplied with blood by three renal arteries, one main and two additional arteries. One of the additional arteries, marked as the upper pole artery of aortic origin, separated from the thoracic aorta at the level of T11 (the eleventh thoracic rib), 1.5 cm above the truncus coeliacus. This artery, after passing through the diaphragm, entered the renal hilus at its upper part and served to vasculate that part of the kidney. CONCLUSION The importance of this study is seen in the fact that anatomic knowledge of variations in the vascularization of the kidneys is of exceptional practical importance. Also, this information may concern transplant surgeons involved in living donor nephrectomies.

Morphological and morphometric analysis of the shape, position, number and size of mental foramen on human mandibles

OBJECTIVE To provide anatomical information on the position, morphological variations and incidence of mental foramen (MF) and accessory mental foramen (AMF) as they are important for dental surgeons, anesthetists in nerve block and surgical procedures, to avoid injury to the neurovascular bundle in the mental foramen area. METHODS Our study was conducted on 150 adult dry human mandibles from the osteological collection of the Department of Anatomy of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo. The location and shape of the MF and the presence of the AMF were studied by visual examination. The size and position of the MF were measured using a digital vernier caliper. SPSS, version 17 software was used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS Bilateral mental foramina were presented in all 150 mandibles. In the majority of mandibles, the MF was located between the first and second premolar (20.3%) or on the level of the root of the second premolar (60.3%), midway between the inferior margin and the alveolar margin of the mandible. Most of the mental foramina were oval in shape (83.3%). An AMF was present in four mandibles (2.7%) on the right side. CONCLUSION This study may be a very useful new supplement to data on variations in the incidence, position, shape and size of mental and accessory mental foramina, which may help surgeons, anaesthetists, neurosurgeons and dentists in carrying out surgical procedures successfully.

Morphometric analysis of Willis circle arteries

Introduction: Willis arterial circle (circulus arteriosus cerebri Willisi) is the most important part of the collateral circulatory system of the brain. It functions in normal and pathological situations such as valvular mechanism and thus allows optimal blood supply of all parts of the brain tissue, which reduces the risk of transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke. The main pre-requisite for the normal function of the circle is its completeness and the lack of hypoplastic vessels. Materials and Methods: In this research, we used 100 angiograms of carotid system shown by serial angiography by Seldinger taken from the archives of the Department of Radiology, Clinical Center University of Sarajevo. For morphometric analysis of blood vessels, we used specially designed software program ELLIPSE (ViDiTo, Zoltan Tomoris, Kosice, Slovak Republic, tomori@saske.sk. In this way, it was possible to more easily store and analyze angiograms that were used for morphometric analysis. Results: In our study, larger diameters of blood vessels in Willis circle were observed in the younger subjects compared to older except the diameter of the internal carotid artery, which was about 0.2 to 0.3 mm larger in the older subjects. In both age groups among males, we recorded larger diameters of the internal carotid artery and segment before the circle of the posterior cerebral artery in relation to the female population, while the rear communicating artery in females was 0.1 mm wider in diameter compared to men in category of younger respondents.