Vascular Patterns of Plastinated

The vascular anatomy of the human hand is known to be of outstanding importance in medical, surgical and radiological sciences (Coleman and Anson, 1961; Kenesi et al., 1967; Braun et al., 1977), as well as in comparative anatomy and primatology (Manners-Smith, 1910; Sakka, 1972). The constitution, relationship and common abnormalities of both arterial palmar arches make their dissection difficult for students. The superficial palmar arch (Arcus palmaris superficialis) is often damaged during student dissection and subsequently much time is lost. Time is also lost trying to save the deep palmar arch (Arcus palmaris profundus). It was therefore decided to overcome this problem by producing plastinated specimens that would give the students a three dimensional view of the complete arteriovenous vascularization of the hand (Grodin and Olry, 1995). Initial trials of injecting diluted silicone resin were not successful. Part of the red resin, which had been injected first, was pushed from the arterial side via capillaries into the venous system. This led to the production of veins which were partly red, blue and purple. The next trials used pure silicone for the injection. One specimen was dissected to illustrate the superficial arterial palmar arch, a second one for the deep arterial palmar arch, and finally a third one for the venous drainage of the human hand.