Anat Cell Biol 2023; 56(1): 155-159
Published online March 31, 2023
https://doi.org/10.5115/acb.22.213
Copyright © Korean Association of ANATOMISTS.
Dawa Zangpo1 , Hironobu Nakane2 , Morio Iino1
1Division of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, 2Department of Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Japan
Correspondence to:Dawa Zangpo
Division of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishi-Cho, Yonago 683-8503, Japan
E-mail: dawagatshel@gmail.com
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Studies describing the vascular systems and their variations in Situs inversus totalis (SIT) from a whole-body computed tomographic (CT) angiography perspective are lacking. We report a case of SIT in which postmortem CT angiography (PMCTA) was performed as a part of the forensic death investigation and incidentally detected several vascular variations in it. The PMCTA procedure was performed using the multiphase PMCTA protocol. Almost all major vessels were visualized, indeed in a completely reversed pattern. Contrast mixture flow interruptions were noted in the right coronary arterial branches suggesting possible blockage, upon which autopsy revealed >90% vessel occlusions at several locations. As such the cause of death was due to ischemic heart disease. Anomalous origins of the right internal mammary artery; abnormal left thyrocervical trunk and variations in the drainage of testicular veins were noted. Our findings might be helpful to clinicians and add to the body of literature on SIT.
Keywords: Computed tomography angiography, Internal mammary artery, Situs inversus, Gonadal veins, Thyrocervical trunk