Variation in the branching of the axillary artery. A description of a rare case.

A case is described in which a rare variation of a branch arising from the axillary artery is defined as a thoracoepigastric artery. This variation was observed in the cadaver of a 72-year-old man. This artery branched from the axillary artery, passing as a common trunk between the roots of the median nerve, and divided into two branches. The lateral one gave rise to muscular branches supplying the shoulder and fasciae, while the medial one descended on the anterior aspect of the axillary fossa, reaching the hypogastric region, and anastomosed with the superficial epigastric artery, which is a branch of the femoral artery. To our best knowledge, no variation similar to this one has been described. We suggest naming this artery the thoracoepigastric artery.