When images lie: a variant of suprascapular artery found incidentally

Left internal thoracic artery (LITA) injection during coronary angiography of a 57-year-old man taken for coronary artery bypass graft showed a large branch arising very high from the LITA, about 1 cm past its origin. Even after harvesting the LITA to a very high extent to get this branch, it could not be found (figure 1). Hence, it was decided to dissect up to the origin of the LITA. The internal mammary vein accompanying the LITA was divided between ligaclips. This allowed clear visibility of the subclavian vein, which was then traced to its drainage into the internal jugular vein. The subclavian vein was obscuring vision of the left …