Superficial brachial arteries observed in bilateral arms

We describe rare anomalies of the bilateral superficial brachial arteries in a dissected 69-year-old Japanese man in the gross anatomical course. The right and left superficial brachial arteries were observed to originate from the axillary artery, pass over the lateral root of the median nerve, course laterally and superficially to the median nerve, and split into the radial and ulnar arteries in the cubital fossa. The right brachial artery ended in the posterior aspect of the elbow. The left brachial artery ended in the anastomosis with the ulnar artery at the site opposite to the origin of the common interosseous artery. These arterial patterns can be explained by the existence, during the developmental process of the arteries of the arm, of a superficial brachial artery and an anastomotic branch between the superficial brachial and brachial arteries.