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Updated: Apr 21, 2026
10:02
Visualization and Analysis of Pharyngeal Arch Arteries using Whole-mount Immunohistochemistry and 3D Reconstruction
Published on: March 31, 2020
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How frequent is the fifth arch artery?
Saurabh K Gupta1, Simon D Bamforth2, Robert H Anderson2
11Department of Cardiology,All India Institute of Medical Sciences,New Delhi,India.
Cardiology in the Young
|October 30, 2014
Summary
The existence of fifth pharyngeal arch arteries is debated, with evidence suggesting they are rare or absent in mammals and birds. Alternative explanations are proposed for congenital heart lesions attributed to their persistence.
Area of Science:
- Embryology
- Developmental Biology
- Cardiovascular Anatomy
Background:
- The presence of the fifth pair of pharyngeal arch arteries is controversial and rarely observed in mammalian or avian embryology.
- Collateral channels between the fourth and sixth arch arteries are more common in developing mouse embryos.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and validate descriptions of purported fifth arch arteries in the literature.
- To offer alternative explanations for congenital heart lesions currently attributed to persistent fifth arch arteries.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of purported fifth arch artery descriptions.
- Analysis of developmental embryology, including images of remodeling arch arteries in mice.
Main Results:
- The existence of fifth arch arteries is questionable, with few documented instances in human or animal embryos.
- Alternative developmental explanations are suggested for lesions like double-barreled aorta and pulmonary atresia-related channels.
Conclusions:
- Most lesions attributed to persistent fifth arch arteries may have more plausible alternative explanations based on normal or variant development.
- Accurate classification of these lesions is important, even if therapeutic approaches remain unchanged.
Keywords:
brachiocephalic arteries
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