Morphometrical aspect on angular branch of facial artery.

Abstract

Anatomic variability and anastomosis of the angular artery of the facial artery with the other arteries are important for both anatomists and surgeons. In particular, the angular artery is a significant landmark in dacryocystorhinostomy. Because of variations on anatomy of the angular artery, there are limited numbers of anatomic studies on the flaps of facial region. Hence, the aim of the cadaveric study was to evaluate the anatomic features of the angular artery in detail to help surgical procedures.The artery was represented under ×4 loop magnification in 32 sides of 16 formalin-fixed adult cadavers. The angular artery's position, diameter, and branch patterns relevant to the nose arterial supply were evaluated. The facial artery ended symmetrically in 10 (62.5%) of the cadavers. The facial artery was terminated as angular artery in all of the cases. The types of the angular artery were as follows: classical angular type in 8 cases (25.0%), nasal type in 15 cases (46.9%), alar type in 4 cases (12.5%), and labial type in 5 cases (15.6%) on the facial halves. We studied the topographic anatomic features of the angular artery for increasing reliability of the flaps on the region. The angular arterial anatomic details are critical and essential for surgical cosmetic and functional results.