Variant high-origin radial artery: a bilateral case.

During a dissection of both upper extremities, an abnormally high origin of the radial a. was found on each side. However, the arterial patterns were not the same. On the right side, the radial a. arose 2 cm above the junction of the two roots of the median n. On the left side, the radial a. arose from the brachial a. 3 cm distal to the origin of the profunda brachii a. The course of these arteries in the forearm were normal. However, in the hand, on the right side, the contributions of the radial and ulnar aa. to the superficial and deep palmar arches were, unusually, equal. On the left side, the superficial palmar arch was formed as usual mainly by the ulnar a. and the deep palmar arch was formed mainly by the radial a. The high origin of the radial aa. in this case is explained on the basis of the embryologic development and is distinguished from the other common arterial variations in the upper limb.