The Thyrothymic Trunk – A Collateral Vessel to the Thyroid and the Thymus

An anomalous arterial trunk was seen arising from the brachiocephalic artery, which divided into five branches supplying the isthmus and the right lobe of the thyroid gland; remnants of the thymus gland; the sternoclavicular joints and the anterior and posterior aspects of the pericardium. Broadly speaking this artery fitted into the description of the thyroidea ima artery, but on defining its proper area of distribution, it was more appropriate to call it the Thyrothymic Trunk or the anterior mediastinal artery