Fontes, E. B.; Precht, B. L. C.; Andrade R. C. L.; Fernandes R. M. P. & Cisne, R.

A large range of variability marks the branching pattern of the axillary artery. The knowledge of the anatomical variations and this pattern is essential to diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, including surgery, of the axillary region. The aim of this study was to observe the different possible origins of circumflex humeral arteries and to measure the length and diameter of each vessel. In our study, 24 armpits from adult cadavers (fixed in tamponed formalin 10%) were dissected. The data were analyzed with a digital caliper and the results expressed as Mean ± SD. In majority of specimens, posterior circumflex humeral artery (PCHA) arose from subscapular artery (SSA) (54.16%) and had an average diameter of 3.92±0.41 mm. The anterior circumflex humeral artery was a branch from axillary artery (AA) in the majority of the specimens (62.5%) with an average diameter of 1.83±0.68 mm. Circumflex humeral arteries can arise from SSA, deep brachial artery and AA. The result of this study is an interesting data for origin, length and diameter of these vessels, contributing to the knowledge of these variations occurrence.

KEY WORDS: Circumflex humeral arteries; Axillary artery; Subscapular artery; Anatomical variation; Surgery.

FONTES, E. B.; PRECHT, B. L. C.; ANDRADE R. C. L.; FERNANDES R. M. P. & CISNE, R. Output relations of humeral circumflex arteries and its variations. Int. J. Morphol., 33(3):1171-1175, 2015.