The inferior phrenic artery is a paired artery that typically branches from the coeliac trunk or the abdominal aorta. Less frequently, it arises from the renal arteries or the left gastric artery. Other origins are very rare. Each inferior phrenic artery divides into a descending (sometimes called lateral (Loukas et al., 2005) or posterior (Miyayama et al., 2010) and an ascending branch (sometimes called medial (Loukas et al., 2005) or anterior (Miyayama et al., 2010), which travel on the inferior surface of the diaphragm and then divide into two smaller branches, which course ventrally and laterally, respectively. Both inferior phrenic arteries also supply the suprarenal glands, and the right inferior phrenic artery gives off a branch to the inferior vena cava, while the left inferior phrenic artery gives off branches for the oesophagus and stomach (Sahni, 2016). A scheme of the course and a branching pattern of the inferior phrenic artery are shown in Fig. 1.

Detailed and precise descriptions of the inferior phrenic artery are missing in major anatomical textbooks and in clinical practice this artery is often overlooked. Nonetheless, in recent years this artery has been gaining increased interest, predominantly in interventional radiology, as it can be therapeutically embolized in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma or in case of interventional management of bleeding from this artery (Gwon et al., 2007).

The aim of this study is to investigate the origin of the inferior phrenic arteries on multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) and investigate the artery’s course on the small series of angiograms.