title: Origin of the medial circumflex femoral artery--a cadaver study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the pattern of origin of medial circumflex femoral artery (MCFA), its origin distance from the midpoint of the inguinal ligament and the topographical relations of the origin, which have great significance in clinical work.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dissections on the autopsy group of 42 thighs were performed, and anatomical relationships of MCFA was analyzed. All data were entered into a scheme of the protocol which was designed for this research containing the case number, age and sex, side, topographical-anatomical relations of MCFA, artery dimensions and variations, and the distance between the place of origin of MCFA and the midpoint of the inguinal ligament.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Commonly, in 25 (59.5%) limbs MCFA originated from the deep femoral artery. In 14 (33.3%) limbs MCFA arose from the femoral artery (FA), in one case (2.4%) a common source of deep femoral artery (DFA) and MCFA was identified, and in two limbs MCFA was not noticed. The distance between the level of origin of MCFA and the central point of the inguinal ligament was 44.2 mm, in average, when it was emerging from FA, and 57.9 mm, in average, in cases where MCFA originated from DFA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Surgeons and radiologists should be familiar with the variations of clinically important MCFA, which is commonly involved in peripheral occlusive arterial diseases, to improve effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment of various pathological conditions in the femoral region.
authors.affiliation: Second Surgery Clinic, University Hospital of Foča, Foča, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2Institute of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia, 3Clinic of Abdominal, Endocrine and Transplantation Surgery, Institute of Surgery, Clinical Centre of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia, 4Clinic for General and Abdominal Surgery, Clinical Centre of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5Clinic for Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Clinical Centre of Serbia, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Nenad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lalović
authors.forename: Miloš
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mališ
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Korica
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cvijanović
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simatović
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilić
mesh_terms: D002102:Cadaver; D005263:Femoral Artery; D006801:Humans; D034941:Upper Extremity