Arterial segmentation of the human spleen by post-mortem angiograms and corrosion-casts

In a series of seventy adult human spleens, obtained from embalmed dissecting-room cadavers and post-mortem bodies, the extrasplenic division and intrasplenic architecture of the terminal branches of the splenic artery and of its polar arteries were studied via extrasplenic dissection, angiograms and injection-corrosion casts. The results showed that the splenic artery is divided into two (85.7%), or three (14.3%) primary branches, each of which is subdivided, mostly, into two to four secondary branches. Moreover, a superior polar artery (60.0%) and inferior polar arteries (80.0%) are given from the splenic trunk or from one of its primary branches. The human spleen is divided accordingly into two or three main arterial segments, separated by a definite avascular plane. Also, a rather constant avascular plane separated the polar segments from the remaining of the organ. Each main segment is also subdivided, usually into two to four less constant secondary segments, the architecture of which and the avascular planes between them are very variable. The findings of this study and other relative studies consist the anatomical basis for highly conservative surgical management, as an alternative to splenectomy, in cases of splenic rupture.