{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,2]],"date-time":"2025-12-02T06:17:26Z","timestamp":1764656246765,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]],"date-time":"2023-04-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680566400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Faculty of Science, Mahidol University"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Anatomical variations in the head, neck and chest are common, and are observed as occasional findings on computed tomography (CT). Although anatomical variations are mostly asymptomatic and do not cause any negative influence on the body function, they may jeopardize diagnosis and may be confused with pathological conditions. The presence of variations may also limit surgical access during tumor removal. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of six anatomical variations\u2014os acromiale, episternal ossicles, cervical rib, Stafne bone cavity, azygos lobe and tracheal bronchus\u2014in an open-access computed tomography dataset obtained from oropharyngeal cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 606 upper-chest and neck computed-tomography scans (79.4% male and 20.6% female) were retrospectively investigated. Sex difference was evaluated using the z-test for two proportions. Results: Os acromiale, episternal ossicles, cervical rib, Stafne bone cavity, azygos lobe, and tracheal bronchus were present in 3.1%, 2.2%, 0.2%, 0%, 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, of all patients. Os acromiale was identified as meso-acromion in 86.6%, and as pre-acromion in 17.4%, of all acromia. Episternal ossicles were present unilaterally in 58.3%, and bilaterally in 41.7%, of all sterna. Only the cervical rib showed a sex difference in prevalence. Conclusions: awareness of these variations is important for radiologists interpreting head, neck and chest CTs; for example, those of oropharyngeal cancer patients. This study also illustrates the applicability of publicly available datasets in prevalence-based anatomical research. While most of the variations investigated in the present study are well-known, the episternal ossicles are not well explored, and need further investigation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina59040707","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,5]],"date-time":"2023-04-05T02:11:41Z","timestamp":1680660701000},"page":"707","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Anatomical Variants Identified on Computed Tomography of Oropharyngeal Carcinoma Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"59","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1158-6671","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sirorat","family":"Janta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Anatomy Unit, Department of Medical Science, Faculty of Science, Rangsit University, Pathum Thani 12000, Thailand"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9910-0244","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Athikhun","family":"Suwannakhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand"},{"name":"In Silico and Clinical Anatomy Research Group (iSCAN), Bangkok 10400, Thailand"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laphatrada","family":"Yurasakpong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Princess Srisavangavadhana College of Medicine, Chulabhorn Royal Academy, Bangkok 10210, Thailand"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Arada","family":"Chaiyamoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3871-1209","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nutmethee","family":"Kruepunga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand"},{"name":"In Silico and Clinical Anatomy Research Group (iSCAN), Bangkok 10400, Thailand"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joe","family":"Iwanaga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"},{"name":"Department of Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"},{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka 830-0011, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Structural and Cellular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"},{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Ochsner Neuroscience Institute, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"R. Shane","family":"Tubbs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"},{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka 830-0011, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Structural and Cellular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"},{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Ochsner Neuroscience Institute, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"},{"name":"Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George\u2019s University, St. George\u2019s FZ818, Grenada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4514-7087","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pinthusorn","family":"Eiamratchanee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George\u2019s University, St. George\u2019s FZ818, Grenada"},{"name":"St. George\u2019s International School of Medicine Keith B. Taylor Global Scholars Program, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE7 7XA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tawanrat","family":"Paensukyen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Science Program, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"220","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1098-2353(1999)12:3<220::AID-CA14>3.0.CO;2-K","article-title":"Missteps and masquerade in American medical academe: Clinical anatomists call for action","volume":"12","author":"Cahill","year":"1999","journal-title":"Clin. Anat."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1","article-title":"Meaning and clinical interest of the anatomical variations in the 21st century","volume":"7","author":"Vasques","year":"2003","journal-title":"Eur. J. 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