A rare variant of the ulnar artery with important clinical implications: a case report

Variations in the major arteries of the upper limb are estimated to be present in up to one fifth of people, and may have significant clinical implications. During routine cadaveric dissection of a 69-year-old fresh female cadaver, a superficial brachioulnar artery with an aberrant path was found bi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC research notes 2012-11, Vol.5 (1), p.660-660, Article 660
Main Authors: Casal, Diogo, Pais, Diogo, Toscano, Tiago, Bilhim, Tiago, Rodrigues, Luís, Figueiredo, Inês, Aradio, Sónia, Angélica-Almeida, Maria, Goyri-O'Neill, João
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Anatomy
Arm
Arteries
Blood supply
Cadaver
Case Report
Dissection
Female
Forearm
Humans
Incidental Findings
Surgery
Ulnar Artery - abnormalities
Upper Extremity - blood supply
Vascular Malformations - pathology
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Summary:Variations in the major arteries of the upper limb are estimated to be present in up to one fifth of people, and may have significant clinical implications. During routine cadaveric dissection of a 69-year-old fresh female cadaver, a superficial brachioulnar artery with an aberrant path was found bilaterally. The superficial brachioulnar artery originated at midarm level from the brachial artery, pierced the brachial fascia immediately proximal to the elbow, crossed superficial to the muscles that originated from the medial epicondyle, and ran over the pronator teres muscle in a doubling of the antebrachial fascia. It then dipped into the forearm fascia, in the gap between the flexor carpi radialis and the palmaris longus. Subsequently, it ran deep to the palmaris longus muscle belly, and superficially to the flexor digitorum superficialis muscle, reaching the gap between the latter and the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle, where it assumed is usual position lateral to the ulnar nerve. As far as the authors could determine, this variant of the superficial brachioulnar artery has only been described twice before in the literature. The existence of such a variant is of particular clinical significance, as these arteries are more susceptible to trauma, and can be easily confused with superficial veins during medical and surgical procedures, potentially leading to iatrogenic distal limb ischemia.
ISSN:1756-0500
1756-0500
DOI:10.1186/1756-0500-5-660