Aberrant systemic arterial supply to normal lung arising from the proper hepatic artery discovered during transarterial chemoembolization

Abstract

We report a rare case of dual arterial supply to an otherwise normal lung discovered incidentally during initial angiography performed with the intent of chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition to normal hepatic arterial supply, the proper hepatic artery provided systemic arterial supply to the lower lobe of the left lung.  Subsequent chest computed tomography angiography demonstrated a normal tracheobronchial tree and normal pulmonary arterial supply to the lung.  Although other anatomic variants have been reported, there are no other reported cases of systemic arterial supply from the proper hepatic artery to the lung. Identifying systemic arterial supply to the lung during angiography is important while performing transcatheter chemoembolization or radioembolization in the liver in order to minimize non-target embolization of the lung.