Anatomical organisation of the microvasculature in the anterior and posterior latissimus dorsi muscles of the chicken.

Anterior and posterior latissimus dorsi muscles of twelve chickens were injected with India ink to visualise their microvasculature. Both muscles have multiple feeding arterioles that branch into a meshwork of arcade arterioles. Transverse arterioles arise from the arcade system and these, in turn, give rise to capillaries. The major differences in the microvasculatures of the two muscles are in the numbers of vessels in the arcade meshworks and the dimensions of these vessels. The differences in geometry and topology of the arcade vessels suggest that the microvasculature in the anterior latissimus dorsi may be able to support levels of oxidative metabolism almost 8 times higher than those in the posterior latissimus dorsi.