Axillary artery and branch variations in an 83 year‐old male Caucasian

Abstract

Results: A male cadaver was found to have a left subscapular artery that branched early off of the axillary artery (at the inferior border of the second rib). The cadaveric subscapular artery was 30% larger in diameter than the continuation of the axillary artery. Additional variants appearing on the left side included (1) the origin of the thoracoacromial artery from the proximal subscapular artery, (2) the origin of the posterior circumflex humeral artery from the subscapular artery and (3) the origin of the lateral thoracic artery from the subscapular artery immediately proximal to the bifurcation into the circumflex scapular and thoracodorsal arteries. Additional variations were seen on the left arm of the cadaver including a high origin of the radial artery in which the radial artery arose from a superficial branch of the brachial artery at mid‐humerus. The superficial branch of the brachial artery was noteworthy by its tortuous route. In comparison, in the right arm, no variants appeared in the axillary, subscapular, or brachial arteries.