18 Anatomical variations of the aortic arch and its branching

Anatomical variants of the aortic arch and its branching are frequently found, mostly as an incidental finding during routine diagnostic scanning. From one to six large vessels can be found arising from the aortic arch, which can be classified in eight different configurations (type I - type VIII). This classification is based on numerous studies, performed on CT, DSA and cadaver autopsies. Some of these variations can cause symptoms of dyspnea, dizziness, loss of consciousness and syncope. Different configurations can lead to complications during surgical procedures in the neck, thorax and large vessels of the aortic arch. For the daily basic work of the interventional angiology in the supra aortic circulation, they could lead to significant difficulties for the proper execution of the endovascular procedures like carotid artery stenting, intracranial aneurisms coiling and acute ischemic stroke interventions. We will demonstrate the most common patterns of the aortic arch vascular configurations, using contrast-enhanced CT scans from patients of cardiology clinic of Hospital `St. Marina`, Varna as well as a software platform to convert these into 3D models and how this processing might assist diagnosis and treatment.