Combination of six variations in a single arm.

Variations on the neuromuscular structures of the upper limb reflect the complex development of that region. Many of them may be important during surgical and/or diagnostic procedures; however, some of them are of academic interest. Here we report a case of six neuromuscular variations in a single upper limb. During routine educational dissection for the undergraduate medical students at the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, we came across six variations on the left upper limb of a 43-year-old well-built male cadaver. We conformed to the steps described in Grant's Dissector during the dissection, and photographed the case with a Nikon Coolpix camera. The biceps brachii showed an accessory head that originated from the tendon of pectoralis major, ran downwards superficial to the long head and joined the distal 1/3 of the muscle mass. A thin muscle band accompanying the lateral side of the pectoralis major was identified as pectoralis quartus. It was originated from the sixth rib and inserted to the coracoid process. The coracobrachialis was double-headed having a common origin from the coracoid process, separating into two after a short course and joining again at the middle level of the arm. Musculocutaneous nerve did not pierce the coracobrachialis. Instead, it ran beneath the two bellies of the muscle. The lateral cord of the brachial plexus passed between the two bellies of coracobrachialis; then divided into musculocutaneous nerve and the lateral root of the median nerve at a lower level than usual. The right upper limb showed no variations. The variations described here maybe commonly encountered individually; however, the combination of six of them in a single arm is previously unreported.

Early effects of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy exposure on testicular sperm morphology.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL) applied to the pelvic region on testicular histology and spermatogenesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: ESWL (2000 shock waves over a 20-min period at 18 kV) was applied to 12 adult New Zealand male rabbits. The rabbits were divided into three equal groups: those in Group 1 were sacrificed 1 h after the intervention, those in Group 2 were sacrificed on the 3rd day and those in Group 3 were sacrificed on the 7th day. Both testicles were removed for histopathological examination to investigate the effects of ESWL. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to detect ultrastructural changes. Epididymal and testicular touch-print preparations were stained with SperMac stain in order to evaluate the morphology of the spermatozoa. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of sperm morphology (p = 0.386). TEM revealed only huge vacuolation of Sertoli cells and diffuse edema in the mitochondria of Sertoli cells. CONCLUSION: No detrimental effect of ESWL on sperm morphology was detected in this study. We conclude that shock waves do not cause severe permanent effects but only transient disorders in testes.

Quantitative analysis of myelinated axons of commissural fibers in the cat brain.

OBJECTIVE: There are limited data related to the number of commissural axons found in various species. Although the corpus callosum has been investigated in cat, there are no data on the number of its myelinated axons. Additionally, the number of myelinated axons of anterior, posterior and habenular commissures are not documented for the cat. Therefore, we aimed to examine the topographic distribution and regional numerical differences of myelinated axons in encephalic commissures of the cat. METHODS: This study was carried out at the Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, from March 2003 to July 2003. The myelinated axons of the encephalic commissures of one cat were counted in this study. RESULTS: In parts of the corpus callosum, a statistically significant difference was found between rostrum and genu, rostrum and truncus, genu and truncus, genu and splenium and truncus and splenium. However, no statistically significant difference was found between rostrum and splenium. When comparing the number of myelinated axons of anterior, posterior and habenular commissures, statistically significant differences were found between anterior and habenular commissures, and between posterior and habenular commissures. No statistically significant difference was found between anterior and posterior commissures. CONCLUSION: These numerical data, evaluated by quantitative analytical statistical methods, might be useful in filling the lack of information on the mean numbers of myelinated axons of different commissures. Knowledge of the number of myelinated axons in different parts of the corpus callosum may also be very important when performing surgical procedures of the corpus callosum, such as commissurectomies.

Distinct intergender difference in the femoral artery ramification patterns found in the Turkish population: angiographic study.

Using 600 bilateral femoral angiographies (300 male lower extremities and 300 female lower extremities), we observed configurations of the femoral origins of the medial circumflex femoral artery (MCFA), lateral circumflex femoral artery (LCFA) and the deep femoral artery. The distinct intergender difference was found in the incidence of direct origin of the MCFA from the femoral artery (17.8% and 80.0% in male and female limbs, respectively). The LCFA also exhibited a marked difference between genders in the incidence of direct origin. The Turkish population seemed to be characterized by an intergender difference in specific somatic arterial morphology.