title: A rare variant of the ulnar artery with important clinical implications: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Variations in the major arteries of the upper limb are estimated to be present in up to one fifth of people, and may have significant clinical implications.
  
  
  METHODS
  During routine cadaveric dissection of a 69-year-old fresh female cadaver, a superficial brachioulnar artery with an aberrant path was found bilaterally. The superficial brachioulnar artery originated at midarm level from the brachial artery, pierced the brachial fascia immediately proximal to the elbow, crossed superficial to the muscles that originated from the medial epicondyle, and ran over the pronator teres muscle in a doubling of the antebrachial fascia. It then dipped into the forearm fascia, in the gap between the flexor carpi radialis and the palmaris longus. Subsequently, it ran deep to the palmaris longus muscle belly, and superficially to the flexor digitorum superficialis muscle, reaching the gap between the latter and the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle, where it assumed is usual position lateral to the ulnar nerve.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As far as the authors could determine, this variant of the superficial brachioulnar artery has only been described twice before in the literature. The existence of such a variant is of particular clinical significance, as these arteries are more susceptible to trauma, and can be easily confused with superficial veins during medical and surgical procedures, potentially leading to iatrogenic distal limb ischemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. diogo_bogalhao@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Diogo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Casal
authors.forename: Diogo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pais
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toscano
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bilhim
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Inês
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.forename: Sónia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aradio
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Angélica-Almeida
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goyri-O'Neill
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002102:Cadaver; D004210:Dissection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D017535:Ulnar Artery / Q000002:abnormalities*; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000098:blood supply*; D054079:Vascular Malformations / Q000473:pathology*