Computed tomographic anatomy of hepatic artery in normal beagle dogs

This study was performed to examine the visualization and anatomical variants of the hepatic artery with dual-phase computed tomography (CT) angiography and three-dimensional volume rendering imaging analysis in clinically normal dogs. Seven healthy beagle dogs were enrolled and underwent dual CT angiography. Arterial phase images could be obtained with multi-detector CT angiography using the fixed-scan method in these dogs. Contrast enhancement of the hepatic parenchyma was quite minimal because of the unique blood supply system of the liver. In most dogs, the main hepatic arterial branches were the right lateral branch, left branch, and right medial branch. Although hepatic arterial variation appears to be common in dogs, only one dog in this study had the caudate lobar branch as the first branch of the hepatic artery. Further study on a larger number of dogs with CT images will be needed to identify and classify the pattern of hepatic arterial variations.