[ case report of a rare variation in arising branches of brachial artery]

ABSTRACT

Variations in the arterial pattern of the upper limb are abundant and diverse and have been observed frequently either in cadaver dissection or in clinical practice and reports. In the most of these reports, radial or ulnar arteries were commonly involved, which can be damaged during surgical procedures. This report presents a case of a rare variation in arising branches of brachial artery. During routine anatomical dissection of a cadaver about 65-years-old Caucasian male, in anatomy department of Birjand University of Medical Sciences a variation in ulnar artery was observed. This variant artery arose from the lower third of the brachial artery, passed subcutaneously in the forearm. In the hand, this artery coursed over the flexor retinaculum and anastomosed with the superficial palmar branch of the radial artery to create the superficial palmar arch. Common interosseus and ulnar recurrent branches, arose from the radial artery, instead of, the ulnar artery in cubital fossa. As the radial and the ulnar arteries are widely used in cardiac catheterization, coronary angiography, arterial injections in the forearm, as well as cardiac surgery and kidney transplantation, hence, awareness of their variations are important clinically