Honma Satoru, Kawai Katsushi, Koizumi Masahiro, Kodama Kodo
Department of Anatomy, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan.
Anat Sci Int. 2011 Jun;86(2):108-15. doi: 10.1007/s12565-010-0094-2. Epub 2010 Oct 21.
The human superficial brachial artery passes superficially to the median nerve and can be classified into three subtypes according to its topographical relationship to the pectoral ansa. When the superficial brachial artery passes superficially to the pectoral ansa, it is defined as the highest superficial artery. We found the highest superficial brachial arteries in both arms of a single cadaver. The right one coexisted with a normal axillary artery, and its identification was not difficult. The left one ran medially to the brachial plexus proximally and became superficial to the brachial plexus after branching off the artery, which gave the subscapular artery, then passed between the radial nerve and its accessory root from deep to superficial and ended as an inferior collateral ulnar artery. We also found a muscular axillary arch in each of the arms, both of which were innervated by the medialmost branch from the pectoral ansa. The right highest superficial brachial artery passed deep to the nerve to the muscular axillary arch. We conjectured that the left axillary artery is where the highest superficial brachial artery, as found on the right, coexists with the axillary artery in the case of Adachi's C-type brachial plexus (AxC). Then, the highest superficial brachial artery develops as a main stem, and the latter remains as a rudimentary AxC. Because the left axillary artery is caught on neither the pectoral ansa nor its branches, the left axillary artery can shift medially to the brachial plexus, and its true form is not obvious.
人类肱浅动脉走行于正中神经浅面，根据其与胸袢的位置关系可分为三种亚型。当肱浅动脉走行于胸袢浅面时，被定义为最高位浅动脉。我们在一具尸体的双侧上肢均发现了最高位浅动脉。右侧的最高位浅动脉与正常腋动脉并存，其辨认并不困难。左侧的最高位浅动脉在近端向内侧走行于臂丛神经内侧，在发出肩胛下动脉后分支至臂丛神经浅面，然后从桡神经及其副根的深面穿至浅面，最终以尺侧下副动脉终支。我们还在双侧上肢均发现了肌性腋弓，二者均由胸袢最内侧分支支配。右侧最高位浅动脉走行于肌性腋弓神经的深面。我们推测，在Adachi C型臂丛（AxC）情况下，左侧腋动脉所在位置即为右侧最高位浅动脉与腋动脉并存之处。然后，最高位浅动脉发育为主干，而后者则保留为原始的AxC。由于左侧腋动脉既未被胸袢及其分支所包绕，因此左侧腋动脉可向内侧移位至臂丛神经处，其真实形态并不明显。
