Bilateral case of superficial ulnar artery originating from axillary artery

Abstract

During the dissection of an 86-year-old male human cadaver, superficial ulnar arteries were found in both upper limbs. These arteries branched from the axillary arteries. In the left arm, the artery crossed ventral to the medial root of the median nerve before running towards the medial part of the arm. The persistence of the median artery was noted. In the right arm, the ulnar artery had a common origin with the subscapular artery. It crossed anterior to the lateral root of the median nerve and then, in the arm, ran alongside the anterolateral aspect of the median nerve, near the biceps brachii muscle, which was supplied by this superficial ulnar artery. Then the artery crossed the median nerve and the brachial artery. The embryology, incidence and clinical relevance of this anatomical variation are discussed. So this was a rare case where the ulnar arteries originated from the axillary artery on both sides, but then followed different courses in the arm and, on the right side, the superficial ulnar artery partly supplied the biceps brachii muscle.