Medical Science
Volume 24, Issue 104, July - August, 2020
Anatomical variations of extra-parenchymal renal arteries in Vietnamese adults
Tran Vinh Hung1,2, Duong Van Hai1,3, Huynh Quang Huy4♦
1Binh Dan Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2General Surgery Department, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Vietnam
3Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam
4Department of Radiology, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
♦Corresponding author
Department of Radiology, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam;
Email: huyhq@pnt.edu.vn
ABSTRACT
Background: The anatomy of renal arteries has great significance in specific urology therapies. This study characterized the
morphology of the extra-parenchymal renal artery, verified whether the main renal artery has a predominant branching pattern.
Materials and methods: Forty kidneys from 20 cadavers were obtained. The kidneys were removed from the body and microdissected
the parenchyma to reveal the renal artery. Results: The majority of kidneys have one main renal artery (90%). The upper
and lower renal aberrant renal artery, which arises from the abdominal aorta, appears in 5% and 2.5% of the observed kidneys,
respectively. The renal artery often branches outside the renal sinus (77.78%). The renal artery can be classified into three groups:
group I (the main renal artery separates into two divisions – anterior and posterior division, 52.78%), group II (the main renal artery
gives “early” lateral branches before dividing into two end divisions, 25.00%), group III (the main renal artery separates into more
than two primary divisions – trifurcating, quad-furcating, 22.22%). In group I, the anterior division has four branching patterns:
bifurcating (47.37%), trifurcating (26.32%), quad-furcating (10.53%) and ladder-liked dividing (15.79%); the posterior division has two
branching patterns: ladder-liked dividing (78.95%) and bifurcating (21.05%). Overall, the anterior division supplies blood to a
broader area than the posterior division does. Conclusions: The branching of the human renal artery is diverse, and the division into
five segmental arteries becomes inappropriate in a large proportion of cases.
Keywords: Anatomy, renal artery, extra-parenchymal, blood supply
Medical Science, 2020, 24(104), 2200-2210
