The radial artery is larger than the ulnar.
BACKGROUND
The radial artery is presently widely used as a bypass graft for coronary artery reconstruction. However, the traditional opinion that the ulnar artery is the larger forearm artery has been questioned.


METHODS
The internal diameters of the radial and ulnar arteries were measured at the wrist in postmortem angiograms of 24 cadavers. Differences in mean values of variables between ulnar and radial arteries were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test.


RESULTS
The mean diameter of the radial artery was 28% larger than that of the ulnar artery in the right arm (p < 0.001) and 26% larger in the left arm (p < 0.001). In the right arm the radial artery was dominant in 20 of 24 cadavers (83%), the ulnar artery in 3 of 24 (13%), and the arteries were equal in 1 of 24 (4%). In the left arm the figures were 17 of 24 cadavers (71%), 3 of 24 (13%), and 4 of 24 (17%), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
In view of the present investigation the radial artery should be considered the larger forearm artery of the hand in most patients.
Riekkinen
Heikki V
HV
Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Jyväskylä Central Hospital, Jyväskylä, Finland. heikki.riekkinen@isshp.fi
Karkola
Kari O
KO
Kankainen
Annaliisa
A
D001158:Arteries / Q000637:transplantation*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D012016:Reference Values; D017535:Ulnar Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014953:Wrist / Q000098:blood supply