Falciform artery

Changed by Yew Shiong Leong, 28 Dec 2022
Disclosures - updated 21 Nov 2022: Nothing to disclose

Updates to Article Attributes

Body was changed:

The falciform artery, also known as the hepatic falciform artery (FHA(HFA) is an uncommon vascular anatomic variant that most commonly arises as the terminal branch of the middle hepatic artery which courses anteriorly through the falciform ligament into and supplying the supraumbilical anterior abdominal wall. It less commonly arises from the left hepatic artery or right hepatic artery. It may have anastomoses with terminal branches of the internal thoracic artery and superior epigastric artery.

It has a wide reported prevalence of as low as 2% in a small angiographic cohort (n=25) 1 to 52% in a much bigger angiographic study (n=250) 3, but both these studies were in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

It is clinically important to recognise during angiographic workup for patients with HCC prior to transcatheter arterial chemoembolication (TACE) as inadvertent chemoembolisation of the artery can lead to necrosis of the anterior abdominal wall.

  • -<p>The<strong> falciform artery</strong>, also known as the <strong>hepatic falciform artery (FHA)</strong> is an uncommon vascular anatomic variant that most commonly arises as the terminal branch of the <a href="/articles/middle-hepatic-artery">middle hepatic artery</a> which courses anteriorly through the <a href="/articles/falciform-ligament">falciform ligament</a> into and supplying the supraumbilical anterior abdominal wall. It less commonly arises from the <a href="/articles/left-hepatic-artery">left hepatic artery</a> or <a href="/articles/right-hepatic-artery">right hepatic artery</a>. It may have anastomoses with terminal branches of the <a href="/articles/internal-thoracic-artery">internal thoracic artery</a>.</p><p>It has a wide reported prevalence of as low as 2% in a small angiographic cohort (n=25) <sup>1</sup> to 52% in a much bigger angiographic study (n=250) <sup>3</sup>, but both these studies were in patients with <a href="/articles/hepatocellular-carcinoma">hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)</a>.</p><p>It is clinically important to recognise during angiographic workup for patients with HCC prior to <a href="/articles/transcatheter-arterial-chemoembolisation">transcatheter arterial chemoembolication (TACE)</a> as inadvertent chemoembolisation of the artery can lead to necrosis of the anterior abdominal wall.</p>
  • +<p>The<strong> falciform artery</strong>, also known as the <strong>hepatic falciform artery (HFA)</strong> is an uncommon vascular anatomic variant that most commonly arises as the terminal branch of the <a href="/articles/middle-hepatic-artery">middle hepatic artery</a> which courses anteriorly through the <a href="/articles/falciform-ligament">falciform ligament</a> into and supplying the supraumbilical anterior abdominal wall. It less commonly arises from the <a href="/articles/left-hepatic-artery">left hepatic artery</a> or <a href="/articles/right-hepatic-artery">right hepatic artery</a>. It may have anastomoses with terminal branches of the <a href="/articles/internal-thoracic-artery">internal thoracic artery</a> and <a href="/articles/superior-epigastric-artery-1">superior epigastric artery</a>.</p><p>It has a wide reported prevalence of as low as 2% in a small angiographic cohort (n=25) <sup>1</sup> to 52% in a much bigger angiographic study (n=250) <sup>3</sup>, but both these studies were in patients with <a href="/articles/hepatocellular-carcinoma">hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)</a>.</p><p>It is clinically important to recognise during angiographic workup for patients with HCC prior to <a href="/articles/transcatheter-arterial-chemoembolisation">transcatheter arterial chemoembolication (TACE)</a> as inadvertent chemoembolisation of the artery can lead to necrosis of the anterior abdominal wall.</p>

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