"This common variant is asymptomatic most of the time. In rare cases of head and neck surgery, e.g. tracheostomy, it can be a risk factor for injury and cause complications 4. In combination with an aberrant right subclavian artery it can cause a dysphagia lusoria."
"The alternative view points out that there is no evidence that the description arose from the comparative anatomy with bovines 5,6. The pattern in bovines has been known since at least 1933. Bovine arch first appeared in the (human) literature in 1988. There are many ways that a name is linked to an animal, and the most common is that the appearance resembles that of an animal (e.g. the Scottie dog appearance, leaping dolphin sign or fishtail pancreas). In some cases the sign occurs because the human variant is the normal pattern in an animal, such as the pig bronchus (and, indeed, the true bovine arch)."
"In the case of the bovine arch, the 180° angle of the bifurcation resembles the 180° angle of the horns of a bovine. This is the likely origin of the term "bovine arch". The fact that the pattern does not occur in bovines does not render the term a misnomer. A butterfly vertebra, for example, would never be considered a misnomer even though butterflies do not have vertebrae 5."
Expected headings
"Gross anatomy"
"Clinical relevance"
"Related variants"
"There is a continuous spectrum of aortic arch branching patterns between arterial origins that are clearly separate, to origins that are adjacent (or common), to those where there is clear common trunk before bifurcation."
"The alternative view points out that there is no evidence that the description arose from the comparative anatomy with bovines 5,6. The pattern in bovines has been known since at least 1933. Bovine arch first appeared in the (human) literature in 1988. There are many ways that a name is linked to an animal, and the most common is that the appearance resembles that of an animal (e.g. the Scottie dog appearance, leaping dolphin sign or fishtail pancreas). In some cases the sign occurs because the human variant is the normal pattern in an animal, such as the pig bronchus (and, indeed, the true bovine arch)."
"Given the scientific basis of medicine, it is interesting to observe the extent of belief that bovine arch is "a misnomer because it is not found in bovines". Why does misinformation gain traction? There is a field of science describing heuristics of error. These are of interest to many radiologists to assess causes of diagnostic error, but equally apply to other thought processes. Several errors will be contributing to accepting that "bovine arch is a misnomer". The representativeness heuristic describes the understanding that humans categorise items in the memory. We know that some variants are named because they are common in some animals. Being informed (in this example) that the pattern is not found in a bovine, we recognise that this does not adhere to the rule, so the name must be wrong. This is followed by confirmation bias: we "confirm" the statement as "fact" rather than critically assessing it. The error in logic is the assumption that the term derives from being found in bovines. Knowing that most "animal signs" are not named after the normal anatomy in the (named) animal means that we should be asking where the name comes from, rather than assuming it is normal in bovines."
"The alternative view points out that there is no evidence that the description arose from the comparative anatomy with bovines 5,6. The pattern in bovines has been known since at least 1933. Bovine arch first appeared in the (human) literature in 1988. There are many ways that a name is linked to an animal, and the most common is that the appearance resembles that of an animal (e.g. the Scottie dog appearance, leaping dolphin sign or fishtail pancreas). In some cases the sign occurs because the human variant is the normal pattern in an animal, such as the pig bronchus (and, indeed, the true bovine arch)."
"For those interested in comparative anatomy, the bovine arch pattern is common in dogs, cats, rabbits and a number of primates 6."
"true bovine arch: common origin of all four aortic arch vessels; the most common arrangement in bovines but very rare in humans"