[An Endovascular Approach for Ruptured Aneurysms of the Basilar Trunk Perforating Artery].

Aneurysms of the basilar trunk perforating artery are rarely described in the literature. Only 13 cases have been reported previously. The recommended treatment for these aneurysms is usually direct surgery such as microsurgical clipping or proximal trapping;endovascular therapy is not preferred because of difficulty to access the aneurysm. Recently however, a case report of treatment of basilar trunk perforating aneurysm with a Pipeline Embolization Device was published. Microsurgical clipping or wrapping has the disadvantage of the deep and narrow operative area and the difficult skull-base technique. Here, we report a case of basilar trunk perforating rupture aneurysm and its treatment with endovascular coil embolization.

Rare variation of the arm artery: coexistence with the superficial brachial and superficial subscapular arteries in the absence of the normal brachial artery.

A rare variation in the arterial pattern was found in the right arm of an 87-year-old male cadaver in a student dissection practice. In this case, the superficial brachial and superficial subscapular arteries coexisted in the absence of the normal brachial artery (A. brachialis profunda). After branching off a large-sized superficial subscapular artery, the axillary artery did not penetrate the brachial plexus and gave rise to a superficial brachial artery, which arose from the axillary artery at the point between the ansa pectoralis and ansa mediana, and descended ventral to the median nerve branching off the profunda brachii and superior and inferior ulnar collateral arteries. The superficial brachial artery finally divided into the radial and ulnar arteries in the cubital fossa. The superficial subscapular artery passed inferior and dorsal to the medial cord of the brachial plexus, giving off the lateral thoracic artery, and then branched off into the thoracodorsal, circumflex scapular and posterior circumflex humeral arteries. Thus the main nerves of the brachial plexus were sandwiched between the superficial brachial artery and the superficial subscapular artery system. The morphological and clinical significance of this variant are discussed.