ABSTRACT
The popliteal artery is located deep inside the popliteal fossa, and is an important landmark in surgical procedures. Lesions of this vessel and its branches can be dangerous, blocking circulation to the lower limb and leading to gangrene or even vascular failure. The aim of this work was to describe the biometric characteristics of the bifurcations of the popliteal artery and the tibiofibular trunk in relation to the head of the fibula in 38 lower limbs through dissection. The bifurcation of the both arteries was present in all the cases. The mean confidence interval for the bifurcation of the popliteal artery was from 2.82 cm to 3.18 cm from the head of the fibula, and that of the bifurcation of the tibiofibular trunk was from 5.72 cm to 6.68 cm. The bifurcation of the popliteal artery into the anterior tibial artery and tibiofibular trunk showed a more constant positioning than the level of the birfurcation of the posterior tibial artery and fibular artery. These data can help in the development of new access routes to these arteries, or the optimization of surgical planning in the region in question.
La arteria poplítea se encuentra en la fosa del mismo nombre y es un punto de referencia importante en los procedimientos quirúrgicos. Las lesiones de este vaso y sus ramas pueden ser peligrosas, bloqueando la circulación a la extremidad inferior pudiendo llevar a gangrena o incluso a la insuficiencia vascular. El objetivo de este trabajo fue describir la anatomía de la arteria poplítea y el nivel de su primera bifurcación en tronco tibiofibular y arteria tibial anterior, y además el nivel de bifurcación del tronco en arterias tibial posterior y fibular (segunda bifurcación), en relación a la cabeza de la fíbula. Para ello se realizó disección en 38 miembros inferiores. El intervalo de confianza para la media de la primera bifurcación fue de 2,82 cm a 3,18 cm de la cabeza de la fíbula y la de la segunda bifurcación fue de 5,72 cm a 6,68 cm. La bifurcación de la arteria poplítea en la arteria tibial anterior y el tronco tibiofibular mostró un posicionamiento más constante que la altura de la bifurción de la arteria tibial posterior y la arteria fibular. Estos datos pueden ayudar en el desarrollo de nuevas vías de acceso a estas arterias, o la optimización de la planificación quirúrgica de la región.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Popliteal Artery/anatomy & histology , Lower Extremity/blood supply , CadaverABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to evaluate hard palate asymmetry during development. The palates of 248 dry skulls were photographed and evaluated digitally. The skulls were divided into seven groups: fetus, newborn, infant, child, adolescent, adult, and aged. Linear measures were obtained from great palatine foramen (GPF) to incisive fossa (INC) and to posterior nasal spine (PNS). Angular measures were obtained from the former landmarks plus the point on sutures intersection between maxillary and palatine bones. Asymmetry was evaluated intra and intergroups. All skulls showed some degree of right-left asymmetry in the hard palate. Regardless of hard palate asymmetry, none of the right-left side differences was statistically significant. For the intergroups assessment, none of the asymmetry index means were statistically different. The posterior part of palate (PNS x GPF) measures was more asymmetric than the anterior part (INC x GPF), showing, respectively, 4.6% and 2.8% of mean asymmetry index. Angular measures showed a more symmetric behavior than the linear ones. Hard palate asymmetry occurs even in the absence of masticatory function, showing that this feature begins early in fetal life and persists through development.
