Unilateral absence of Palmaris longus muscle – A case report

Abstract

Ethnic variations in the prevalence of absence of the palmaris longus (PL) are well known. It is not uncommon in individuals to have unilateral or bilateral absence of palmaris longus, a structure which is often used in reconstructive plastic surgeries mainly in the grafting of tendons, although it has also been used for a wide variety of procedures including lip augmentation,1 ptosis correction2 and in the management of facial paralysis.3,4During the routine dissection procedure being carried out for the 1st year MBBS students at Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, we found the absence of Palmaris longus muscle unilaterally in the left upper extremity of a 58 year old male cadaver. Authors have compared their findings with the presence of palmaris longus muscle of other limb and possible variations of palmaris longus muscle reported in the literature. The importance of variation in absence of palmaris longus muscle has also been discussed.