“Bovine” Aortic Arch

I have reviewed with interest the recent paper by Layton et al¹ and correspondence by Vitek² concerning the human anatomic variation commonly but incorrectly referred to as the “bovine” aortic arch.

As a point of comparative anatomy, it should be noted that several common mammals have normal aortic branching patterns identical with the human “bovine” variant. Specifically, dogs, cats, and most rabbit species have 2 major branches from the aortic arch, the first being an innominate or brachiocephalic artery giving origin sequentially to the left common carotid and right common carotid arteries and the second being a left subclavian artery.³

I suggest, therefore, that if tempted to apply an animal name to the human arch variant described above, using a term like “canine,” “feline,” or “lapine” aortic arch would be more appropriate.

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