A rarely aberrant origin of the right vertebral artery

Abstract Aberrant origin of the right vertebral artery is relatively uncommon, but extremely rare when abnormal origin from left subclavian artery. We present an anatomic variation not reported before in which aberrant right vertebral artery originates from left subclavian artery proximal to left vertebral artery. Based on understanding embryological development of normal right vertebral artery and relative variations, we propose a new classification pattern different from study of Tommory Kumar Maiti et al. We discuss different patterns’ embryologic characteristics and analyze variation of our case: persistence of the right proximal dorsal aorta lead to a verteral artery from distal to the left subclavian artery and then the vertebral artery migrate to left subclavian artery, located on proximal to normal left vertebral artery. In conclusion, though variation of our case is exceedingly rare, we still should remember it in the back of our mind. In endovascular and surgical operations, an undiagnosed variation may be a potential risk. To some extent, finding and understanding variations can help us avoid related complications.