Abstract          Background: Variations in the origin and course of unilateral and/or bilateral renal arteries are common. But thoracic renal artery, originating in thorax above the diaphragmatic dome at the level of T11 vertebral body is rare. However knowledge of renal artery variations are important in vascular and interventional radiological procedures and in renal transplantations. Material and Method: The study was performed on 72 sides of 36 embalmed cadavers, which were used for routine dissection for medical students, over a period of two years in the department of anatomy, in Narayana Medical College, Nellore, in Guntur Medical College, Guntur and R.V.M. Institute of medical sciences and research centre, Siddipet, Telangana, India. Exposure of kidneys and renal arteries done following standard dissection procedure. The observations are noted and photographed. Results and Discussion: supernumerary Renal arteries were present in 23/36 (63.8%) cases (50% of Aortic origin and 13.8% of renal origin) on the right side and 21/36 (58.3%) cases (47.2% of Aortic origin and 11.1% of Renal origin) on the left side. An anomaly of the renal artery is presented in which the renal trunk supplying the left kidney arises from the Descending thoracic aorta. Conclusion: Variation in the course of renal arteries are common and are known causes of iatrogenic injuries. A thoracic origin of renal artery is rare and posses a greater risk during thoracic endovascular surgical interventions.
Key Words: Descending thoracic aorta, Renal artery, supernumerary renal artery, anatomical variation.
Abbreviations: Supernumerary Renal Artery (SRA), Renal Artery (RA), Thoracic Renal Artery (TRA).
Thoracic Aorta (TA).