Prevalence of aortic arch anatomical branching variants in Kenyan population as shown on contrast enhanced chest multidetector computed tomography

Background: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of aortic arch(AA) anatomical branching variants present in Kenyan population as shown on a chest contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Methods: The study design was a prospective cross-sectional study carried out in 6 months (between May and November 2016) at the Kenyatta National Hospital(KNH) department of Radiology. Participants were recruited amongst patients referred for a chest contrast enhanced MDCT. Acquired data was subjected to volume rendering technique (VRT) and multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) software to define the anatomy of the AA. The type of AA branching classification used was one derived by Natsis et al. Data analysis involved calculating frequency distributions of AA variations using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21 software. Results: One hundred and eighty-five subjects (86 males and 99 females) were recruited. Ninety-five participants had classical AA Natsis type I. Ninety participants had non-classical variant AA of which 83 participants had Natsis type II while 2 patients had Natsis type III. The remaining 3 had a variant AA not found in the Natsis study. Conclusions: Variations in the branching pattern of AA are very common in Kenya with the most common being Natsis type II. Keywords: aortic arch; anatomical variants; branching variation; chest multidetector computed tomography