Unusual course of accessory renal artery and its clinical significance: a case report

The increasing use of invasive diagnostic and interventional procedures in cardiovascular diseases makes it important that the type and frequency of vascular variations are well documented and understood. With the advent of laparoscopic renal surgeries and donor nephrectomies, it becomes mandatory for the surgeon to understand the abnormality or variations in the renal vasculature. Otherwise renal transplant may be jeopardized by the presence of accessory and aberrant renal vessels. Existence of the accessory and aberrant renal arteries is accountable in cases of renal pathologies, radiological interventions, renal transplants, and other surgical approach on them. Therefore this case report would serve as ray of light for knowing the possible anatomical variations associated with the renal vasculature. During routine dissection we observed an unusual variation in the vascular supply to the kidney on the right side of a 63-year-old male cadaver. However such variation was not found on the opposite side. Patients with such variations may be asymptomatic.