A population study of variations in the brachial artery and its terminal branches: Clinical correlates

Reports in the literature suggest that the variations in branching patterns of the upper limb arteries and their prevalence may be influenced by sex and population affinity. A comprehensive investigation of branching patterns of the brachial artery and its branches is lacking in South Africans, with many reports focusing on the axillary artery. Therefore the current study aimed to record the incidence of the variations of the brachial, radial and ulnar arteries in a sample of the South African population. One hundred and eighty (180) upper limbs of 90 South African cadavers from the Department of Anatomy at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University were dissected. Normal anatomy according to standard anatomy textbooks and variant branching patterns of the brachial, radial and ulnar arteries were identified and recorded. SPSS software was used to establish the differences in variant branching patterns between side and sex. Upper limb arterial variations appeared in all the dissected cadavers. The recorded variations ranged from abnormal origin of the deep brachial artery, high division of the brachial artery into the ulnar and radial arteries, tortuous brachial and radial arteries, and superficial course of radial and ulnar arteries. The prevalence of brachial, ulnar and radial artery variations in the current study is comparable to that of previous studies. However, the superficial radial artery is more prevalent in males than in females in South Africans. The results of the current study provide crucial information for planning surgical procedures and interpretation of angiograms.