Anatomic variations of the Uterine Artery. Review of the literature and their clinical significance

Introduction
Uterine arteries are the main supplying vessels to the uterus. Mainly, they originate from the anterior trunk of internal iliac artery. Uterine arteries play an important role in pregnancy as well as transcatheter arterial embolization for postpartum hemorrhage and uterine fibroid management.
Materials and methods
This is a review of the English literature in PubMed database of the anatomic variety on the origin of uterine arteries and their clinical significance.
Results
Eleven studies describe the origin of the uterine arteries and their variations in the literature. In six studies uterine artery emerges from internal iliac artery in the majority of the cases, either as a separate branch, or as a bifurcation with inferior gluteal artery, or trifurcation with superior and inferior gluteal artery. In two studies the inferior gluteal artery manifests as the main source of uterine artery while in three studies the umbilical artery poses as its main origin.
Conclusion
Internal iliac artery is described as the most common vascular origin of uterine artery. However, this review highlights that the main vessels of origin for uterine arteries are internal iliac, umbilical and inferior gluteal artery. Nevertheless, classification and further research for this peculiar anatomic structure is fundamental in the future.