Abstract:
The developing diagnostic and interventional procedures in cardiovascular diseases
require a sound knowledge about variations in the arterial pattern and the arterialvariations
in the arm are of potential clinical implications as it is a frequent site of injury and also
involved in many surgical and invasive procedures. During routine dissection we
encountered a unilateral abnormal branching pattern)of left axillary artery in a 60 year old
female Sri Lankan cadaver. The third part of the axillary artery divided into two equal
size branches: the superficial and the. deep brachial arteries. The superficial brachial
artery continued in the arm as the braChialartery proper, medialto the median ner,re. ln
the middle of the arm, the median nerve crossed the superficial brachial artery obliquely
behind the artery from lateral to medial and situated medial to the superficial brachial
artery at the elbow lt gave musculag'bianches in the arm and endeO iniftu.unitalfossa
by dividing into ulnar and radial arteries. The commencemen! of deep brachial artery was
embraced by the two rootg of the median nerve; therlateral root crossed in front of the
deep brachial artery and joined the medial root to form the median nerye in between the
superficial and deep brachial arteries. fne m{aian root of the median nerye from its
origin passed deep to the superficial bracl;ial artery and was found in Qetween the
superficialand deep brachial arteries. the deep brachial artery gave rise to subscapular,
anterior and porterior circumflex humeral and profunda brachii arteries. lt terminated by
dividing into ulnar collateral arteries. These variations should be known for accurate
diagnostic interpretation and to avoid complications duripg the surgery of the axillary
region.
