Anatomical Relationships between the Thyroid Gland and the Arteries Feeding It

INTRODUCTION: Questions about anatomical variants of the thyroid gland are of interest to morphologists and practicing medical specialists. Knowledge of the topography of the thyroid arteries, as well as their areas of blood supply, are important when developing surgical interventions with minimal risk. Information about the topographic anatomical and skeletotopic relationships of the arteries of the thyroid gland with its dimensions and surrounding organs allows better quality of surgeries and reduces the probability of errors in surgical interventions in the neck. AIM: To determine the associations between the linear dimensions of the thyroid gland and its feeding arteries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The work was carried out on 40 organ complexes of the neck taken at autopsy according to the original method developed by the authors in persons without obvious thyroid pathology (Russian Patent No. 2802389). The arterial net of the thyroid gland was investigated by the method of preparation with a preliminary injection of a colored gelatin solution. The statistical analysis of the results was performed with use of the Microsoft Office 2016 application program package. RESULTS: It was revealed that the upper thyroid arteries begin mainly in the bifurcation area of the common carotid arteries, and the lower thyroid arteries are most often branches of the thyroid cervical trunk. It is noted that the upper thyroid arteries gave an average of 3 to 4 branches, which participated in the blood supply not only to the gland itself, but also to the subhyoid muscular group. Linear parameters of the thyroid gland were determined, and statistically significant relationships were revealed between the diameter of the investigated arteries and the linear parameters of the isthmus and lobe of the thyroid gland on the right side. CONCLUSION: A collection of the linear dimensions of the thyroid gland and its feeding arteries was obtained. The results of the conducted research also confirm the literature data on the variability of the topography and branching of the thyroid arteries. Various statistically significant connections between the thyroid gland and its arteries were identified. The received data open the perspective for further research of inter-individual features of extra-organ arterial vessels of the neck and thyroid gland.