[Gastro-duodenal artery arising from the superior mesenteric artery]

These exceptional anomalies of the gastro-duodenal (G.D.) arteries provide a better understanding of certain very odd vessels found on coeliac or superior mesenteric arteries selective arteriography. In our series of 400 dissected bodies, a typical origin of the G.D. artery from the superior mesenteric artery is noted in 4 cases : the aberrant vessel is identified as a G.D. artery because of a) its course, b) and its two usual terminal divisions : superior pancreatico-duodenal and right gastro-epiploic arteries. On the other hand, we have 10 cases of G.D. artery arising from both coeliac hepatic and superior mesenteric arteries with:--a dominant hepatic branch in 6,--a dominant mesenteric branch in 3,--and a balanced origin in 1. A G.D. artery looping around the common bile duct to reach the anterior surface of the pancreas (Michels) was never seen in this series.