Department of Anatomy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
Second Department of General Surgery, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
Clin Anat. 2020 Nov;33(8):1130-1137. doi: 10.1002/ca.23550. Epub 2020 Jan 12.
The superficial temporal artery (STA) is a terminal branch of the external carotid artery. It supplies the regions of scalp and face. The morphometrical data concerning STAs are not consistent; therefore, in this systemic review and meta-analysis, we aimed in this to provide an up-to-date data on its anatomic features.
In order to do this, PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science were searched. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items and Review and Meta-Analyses guidelines for the meta-analysis. Studies that reported the prevalence and anatomical data regarding STA were included in further analyses.
Out of 1,446 studies initially evaluated, 21 were included in the meta-analysis (874 patients/donors). The STA diameter was 1.5 mm (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.47-1.53 mm). The frontal and parietal branches of the STA were present in 97.6% (95% CIs: 94.6-99.5%) and 96.4% (95% CIs: 93.5-98.5%) of the cases, respectively. The STA bifurcation point was located above the zygomatic arch in 79.1% (95% CI: 68.0-84.3), below the zygomatic arch in 6.7% (95% CI: 2.4-12.1), and on the zygomatic arch in 11.1% of the cases (95% CI: 5.4-17.5). There was no bifurcation of the STA in 3.1% of the cases (95% CI: 0.4-7.3).
The most comprehensive analysis of STA morphological features is presented. The results from this evidence-based anatomical study will improve understanding of the clinical STA anatomy, which in turn has major implications for understanding the STA in clinical practice.
颞浅动脉（STA）是颈外动脉的终末分支。它供应头皮和面部区域。关于 STA 的形态学数据不一致；因此，在本次系统评价和荟萃分析中，我们旨在提供其解剖特征的最新数据。
为了做到这一点，我们检索了 PubMed、Embase、ScienceDirect 和 Web of Science。我们遵循了荟萃分析的首选报告项目和评论与荟萃分析指南。纳入了进一步分析的报告 STA 患病率和解剖学数据的研究。
最初评估的 1446 项研究中，有 21 项纳入荟萃分析（874 例患者/供体）。STA 直径为 1.5 毫米（95%置信区间 [CI]：1.47-1.53 毫米）。STA 的额支和顶支分别存在于 97.6%（95% CI：94.6-99.5%）和 96.4%（95% CI：93.5-98.5%）的病例中。STA 分叉点位于颧弓上方 79.1%（95% CI：68.0-84.3）、颧弓下方 6.7%（95% CI：2.4-12.1）和颧弓上 11.1%（95% CI：5.4-17.5）。STA 无分叉的病例占 3.1%（95% CI：0.4-7.3）。
提出了对 STA 形态特征最全面的分析。这项基于证据的解剖学研究的结果将提高对 STA 临床解剖的理解，这反过来又对理解临床实践中的 STA 具有重要意义。
