MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF SUPERFICIAL AND DEEP PALMAR ARCHES AND THEIR VARIATIONS

Abstract

Background: Arterial supply to the hand is provided by the superficial and newlinedeep palmar arches. The superficial palmar arch (SPA) and its contributing arteries are newlinehighly variable; numbers of anatomic variations are reported in the literature. Deep newlinePalmar Arch is less variable; few authors reported some variations in the formation of newlineDPA. Also the knowledge about anatomical position of SPA with reference to important newlineanatomical landmarks and arterial diameter of arteries contributing in the formation of newlineSPA is necessary for surgeons dealing with reconstructive surgeries of the hand. newlineObjectives: The present study is planned to find out different types of DPA and SPA, newlinevariations in branching pattern of SPA, distance between important landmarks of the newlinehand like Kaplan s cardinal line and SPA and diameters of important arteries contributing newlinein the formation of SPA. newlineMethods : The Study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy, Rural Medical newlineCollege, Loni, over a period of three years. Total 180 hands were collected from newlinedissected cadavers available in the department of Anatomy, out of which three limbs newlinewere discarded because of distorted structures of the hand.Total 177 adult human newlinecadaveric hands were dissected. Dissected hands were numbered; photographs were newlinetaken and limbs were preserved. The variations in the formation of SPA and DPA were newlinerecorded and the important measurements were recorded and entered in Microsoft excel newlinefor further analysis. newlineResults and conclusion: In our study we found classical type of arch formed by newlineanastomosis between ulnar and superficial branch of radial artery in 21.46 % of newlinespecimens. Out of total 177 SPA dissected 99 specimens (55.93%) were having non-arch newlinetype of SPA and 78 specimens (44.07%) were having arch type of SPA. Also we found newlinepersistent median artery in 19 hands. Also there is wide variation in classification of SPA newlineand there occurrence which suggest that the more variations may be present in the newlineformation of SPA other than those described in standa