Segmental vertebral artery agenesis with deep cervical reconstitution in a cervicothoracic variant cluster

To report a complex cervicothoracic vascular-osseous phenotype detected on CTA and define its surgical and radiological relevance.

Neck CTA of a 76-year-old woman was reviewed on multiplanar reconstructions for aortic arch branching, supraaortic courses, vertebral artery segments, collateral channels, cervical ribs, styloid processes, and pharyngeal carotid relationships.

CTA showed a common origin of the brachiocephalic trunk and left common carotid artery (colloquially termed bovine aortic arch), bilateral rudimentary cervical ribs, high-riding pretracheal brachiocephalic trunk, and marked supraaortic tortuosity. The brachiocephalic trunk reached C7 and divided low in the neck below the right thyroid lobe. The right common carotid artery formed a proximal loop, and the right vertebral artery arose posteriorly from the right subclavian artery, passed anterior to the right cervical rib, and entered the C6 transverse foramen. On the left, the common carotid artery formed a 2.12-cm posterolateral arch loop. The left vertebral ostium, V1 segment, and proximal V2 segment were absent. A tortuous left deep cervical artery arose from the left subclavian artery, passed anterior to the left cervical rib, and reconstituted the distal V2 segment at the C3-C4 disc level; the distal artery continued as a PICA-type vertebral artery. Additional findings were a medial loop of the right external carotid artery, a 1.56-cm retropharyngeal/retrotonsillar loop of the right internal carotid artery, bilateral elongated styloid processes, and bilateral poor sternoclavicular joint articulations with the left brachiocephalic vein partly coursing in the resulting interclavicular space.

The case illustrates interacting cervicothoracic variants that may affect anterior neck surgery, thyroid and pharyngeal procedures, tracheostomy, supraclavicular exposure, endovascular access, and CTA interpretation.