An Anatomical Case Report of the Misnomer ‘Bovine Aortic Arch’

Introduction: The usual branches of the aortic arch include three large sized arteries brachiocephalic trunk (BCT), left common carotid artery (LCCA) and left subclavian artery. Case report: during the routine dissection procedure performed for the medical students, it was noticed that the left common carotid artery was branching from the brachiocephalic trunk. Conclusion: It is important to identify this type of arterial anomaly during the surgery to prevent iatrogenic injury to the artery and subsequent bleeding. This morphological variant is commonly known as ‘bovine aortic arch’ in the radiological and surgical literature. But this was later considered as a misnomer in the scientific literature as there was no similarity between this branching pattern in humans and the bovine aortic arch.