A RETROCAVAL RIGHT TESTICULAR ARTERY SUPPLYING THE RIGHT SUPRARENAL GLAND AND THE WALL OF THE INFERIOR VENA CAVA WITH AN UNUSUAL ORIGIN FROM THE ABDOMINAL AORTA

Abstract

The testicular arteries are one of the paired branches of the abdominal aorta being the male homologues of the
ovarian arteries of females. There are a number of reports about the variation of the origin and course of these arteries. In this case the right testicular artery is found to unusually arise from the abdominal aorta above the renal
arteries, and runs behind the inferior vena cava (retrocaval) providing branches to the right suprarenal gland and
the wall of the inferior vena cava. This was detected in a 55 years old male cadaver during the routine dissection
program of undergraduate medical students in the Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar. Such a case, though rare, could be of vital nephrosurgical importance.