Anatomoclinical significance of splenic artery anastomotic bridges

The authors analyzed the frequency of anastomotic bridges between the terminal branches of the splenic artery, their location related to the splenic surface, length and caliber on a total of 102 autopsy specimens of human spleen and pancreatic tail. The methods applied were corrosion casting and postmortem arteriography. The incidence of cases with the splenic artery anastomotic bridges was 33.3%. They were located as follows: intrasplenic 25.5%, extrasplenic 4.9%, both intra- and extrasplenic 2.9%. The remaining two-thirds of spleens were free of anastomoses and thus hypothetically acceptable for partial and segmental splenectomy, as arterial bridges can jeopardize such surgical procedures. Intrasplenic arterial anastomotic bridges were of small caliber and ruled negligible, while the extrasplenic arterial anastomoses are of large caliber being of surgical importance.