Arterial variations of the upper extremities

During the dissection of the right and left upper limbs of a 70-year-old female cadaver, we encountered combined vascular anomalies. On the left side, we observed the presence of a lateral inferior superficial brachial artery, large anterior interosseous artery and an absence of a radial artery, which is quite a rare anomaly. The lateral inferior superficial brachial artery that arose 39 mm distal to the brachial artery descended to the wrist. The anterior interosseous artery originated from the brachial artery at the level of 12 mm distal to the head of the radius and descended on the anterior aspect of the interosseous membrane with the anterior interosseous branch of the median nerve. On the right side, a trifurcation of the brachial artery was observed. It gave off three terminal branches: the radial, ulnar and a muscular artery at the proximal one-third of the humerus. It is obvious that accurate information concerning unusual patterns of the arteries in the upper limbs is relevant clinically, especially in order to avoid accidental injury or intra-arterial injection.