[Abnormal ramification of the axillary artery: sub-scapular common trunk]

In a man's dissected cadaver we observed an unusual branching of the right axillary artery, which gives a large collateral branch. This branch is the origin of several important arteries as the subscapular artery (with its usual branches), the anterior and posterior circumflex humeral arteries, the proDunda brachii a. and the ulnar collateral artery. The frequency of this variation is evaluated to be 0.45% and is comparable to those found in the literature. We propose to name this artery as common subscapular trunk. The trunk described by us possesses a diameter equal to 6.30 mm and is larger than the continuation or the axillary artery, which courses as superficial brachial artery.