Arteriographic findings in radial and ulnar deficiencies

The arterial pattern in 13 cases of radial deficiency and six cases of ulnar deficiency was studied by arteriography. The radial artery was absent or hypoplastic in 84.6% of cases of radial deficiency and in 50% of cases of ulnar deficiency. A persistent median artery was seen in 76.9% of cases of radial deficiency and in 16.7% of cases of ulnar deficiency. In 12 hands, the deep palmar arch was small or absent, depending upon the degree of radial arterial dysplasia. The digital artery to the deficient digits was missing in some cases. The persistence of an embryonic vascular pattern in cases of radial deficiency and ulnar deficiency with dysplasia of the ulna suggests that the teratogenic injury may have been simultaneous, whereas ulnar deficiency without dysplasia of the ulna was not associated with arterial abnormalities in the forearm.