Abnormal Origin and Course of the Accessory Phrenic Nerve: Case Report

Paraskevas, George; Koutsouflianiotis, Konstantinos; Kitsoulis, Panagiotis; Spyridakis, Ioannis

doi:10.14712/18059694.2016.55

Acta Medica > Archive > 2016, Vol. 59 > Issue 2 > Abnormal Origin and Course of the…

Acta Med. 2016, 59: 70-71

https://doi.org/10.14712/18059694.2016.55

Abnormal Origin and Course of the Accessory Phrenic Nerve: Case Report

George Paraskevas^a,*, Konstantinos Koutsouflianiotis^a, Panagiotis Kitsoulis^b, Ioannis Spyridakis^a

^aDepartment of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
^bDepartment of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

Received September 2, 2015
Accepted March 16, 2016

In the current cadaveric study an unusual sizeable accessory phrenic nerve (APN) was encountered emerging from the trunk of the supraclavicular nerves and forming a triangular loop that was anastomosing with the phrenic nerve. That neural loop surrounded the superficial cervical artery which displayed a spiral course. The form of a triangular loop of APN involving the aforementioned artery and originating from the supraclavicular nerve to the best of our knowledge has not been documented previously in the literature. The variable morphological features of the APN along with its clinical applications are briefly discussed.