Major vessels of the interclavicular suprasternal space
A suprasternal-notch-referenced topographic classification for the aortic arch, brachiocephalic trunk, left brachiocephalic vein, and sternoclavicular-joint configuration in 100 adult CT angiograms.
The brachiocephalic trunk is the main great vessel that reaches the suprasternal plane.
In this cohort, the BCT reached or crossed the suprasternal-notch plane in 64% of cases and was fully cervical/high-riding in 49%, whereas high-riding aortic arch and left brachiocephalic vein were uncommon.
Four variables, one fixed reference plane
The suprasternal notch served as a common horizontal reference for classifying three vascular structures and the integrated sternoclavicular configuration.
Adult CTAs
Consecutive adult examinations.
Mean weighted κ
Almost-perfect interobserver agreement.
Global types
Descriptive four-variable topographic patterns.
Marked SN space
Marked suprasternal–interclavicular configuration.
Select a structure
Each vascular structure uses the same three-level suprasternal-notch scale; the SCJ uses an integrated mild/clear/marked interpretation.
High-riding states are not equally frequent
The BCT is the outlier; cervical/high-riding AA and LBCV were much less common.
The structures are partly correlated
Five of six pairwise ordinal correlations remained significant after false-discovery-rate adjustment; AA–BCT was the strongest association.
AA ↔ BCT
Strongest positive association.
BCT ↔ LBCV
All five high-riding LBCVs occurred in the high-riding BCT subgroup.
LBCV ↔ SCJ
The only non-significant pair.