Abstract
The author observed an anomalous middle colic artery (A. colica media accessoria) derived from the splenic artery in a 78 year old female at autopsy in 1979. The accessory middle colic artery in this case, about 14cm long, after originating from the splenic artery, went downwards and to the left, crossed behind the pancreatic body, and then gave off the pancreatic branch, before arriving at the left colic flexure. It supplied the distal section (about 20 cm) of the transverse colon and the upper section (about 7 cm) of the descending colon, and communicated with the left branch of the middle colic artery from the superior mesenteric artery superiorly and with the left colic artery from the inferior mesenteric artery inferiorly. In addition, variation of the hepatic artery (A. hepatica accessoria dextra derived from the celiac trunk, Adachi's classification : Type I, Group 7, 1928) was also observed in this case.
