Middle thymothyroid artery arising from the common carotid artery: case report of a rare variation

A middle thymothyroid artery, arising from the anterior aspect of the right common carotid as an anomalous branch was observed in a 71-year-old Japanese male cadaver. It soon divided into a thyroidea ima artery, a branch supplying the sternoclavicular joints, and a thymic branch. In addition, twigs from these three main branches supplied the sternohyoid and sternothyroid muscles, right inferior parathyroid gland and also some deep cervical lymph nodes. Anatomical features, clinical implications and a brief account of the developmental aspects of this rare variation are included in this report.