European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 13 - Number 2
Eur J Anat, 13 (2): 97-103 (2009)

Study of two cases of high-origin radial artery in humans

Natsis K., Papadopoulou A.L., Papathanasiou E., Noussios G., Paraskevas G., Lazaridis N.

Anatomy Department, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; Laboratory of Anatomy, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (Serres), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

ABSTRACT Variations in the normal arterial anatomical pattern are very common and among them the high origin of the radial artery is the most frequent variation. We report two cases of a unilateral high-origin radial artery with different variations in each case in the course of the artery, along with a review of the literature. From an embryological point of view, the presence of a radial artery of high origin is established by developmental stage 18 and may be due to a differentiated hemodynamic predominance of the deep arterial segments over the superficial arterial network, chemical factors, foetal position in the uterus, developmental arrest in early stages, and genetic predisposition. Additionally, a high-origin radial artery may complicate medical procedures, leading to misdiagnosis and easier injury. Finally, we discuss the terminology problem we came across reviewing the literature because a number of studies refer to this variant using different terms.

Keywords: anatomical variation, article, case report, human, radial artery

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)