title: Tetrafurcation of the subscapular artery. Anatomical and clinical implications.
abstract: Anatomic variations of axillary artery branches are commonly encountered during radiological investigation and surgical operations. Their existence can confuse interpretation of radiological results and lead to undesired complications during surgery. In this report authors describe a rare case of a subscapular arterial trunk that gave origin to thoracodorsal, circumflex scapular, posterior humeral circumflex, and lateral thoracic artery. Such a variation might cause undesired sequelae during trauma management and a variety of common flap harvesting operations including latissimus dorsi, scapular and parascapular flaps. Furthermore it presents embryological interest as it gives insight to embryologic development of axillary area.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dimovelis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michalinos
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spartalis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Athanasiadis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skandalakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, Greece. ttroupis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Troupis
mesh_terms: D001158:Arteries / Q000002:abnormalities*; D006801:Humans; D012540:Scapula / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000098:blood supply*
keywords: lateral thoracic artery; plastic surgery; posterior humeral circumflex artery; scapular flap; subscapular artery; thoracodorsal artery