Anatomical variations of the nerves, muscles, and vessels in the upper limb have been described in many anatomical studies; however, the occurrence of 6 variations in an ipsilateral limb is very rare. These variations occur in the following structures: the pectoralis minimus muscle, the communication between the external jugular vein and cephalic vein, axillary arch, the Struthers ligament, the...

Langer's arch is the best-known anatomic variant of definite surgical implication in the region of the axilla. This rare anomaly is a muscular slip extending from the latissimus dorsi (LD) muscle to the tendons, muscles or fasciae around the superior part of the humerus. In this report, we present a rare case of left axillary arch. During modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer, we encoun...

The purpose of this commentary is to describe bilateral anomalous bands of the latissimus dorsi muscle observed in an 81-year-old male embalmed cadaver, and to discuss the possible clinical implications of this anomaly. The musculotendinous bands tautened and compressed the underlying axillary vessels, and the musculocutaneous, median, and ulnar nerves during passive abduction/external rotation...

Prevention of cerebral injury is an important consideration during repair of aortic arch aneurysm, and the major goal of cerebral protection techniques. We describe our surgical strategy for treatment of extended thoracic aortic aneurysms. Between January 2001 and June 2008, 17 men and 6 women, with a mean age of 67.9 +/- 8.3 years, underwent total replacement of the arch and descending aorta. ...

Combined idiopathic retroperitoneal-mediastinal fibrosis is rare. We report a case of mediastinal fibrosis that followed the onset of retroperitoneal fibrosis by six years. A 61-year-old asymptomatic woman was diagnosed with idiopathic mediastinal fibrosis in December of 2006 after discovering a 1.4 cm thick prevascular mass encasing the aortic arch. In August of 2001 the patient had been diagn...

BACKGROUND Selective antegrade perfusion via axillary artery cannulation along with circulatory arrest under deep hypothermia has became a recent trend for performing surgery on the ascending aorta and aortic arch and when direct aortic cannulation is not feasible. The authors of this study tried using moderate hypothermia with right brachial and femoral artery perfusion to complement the pitfa...

The superficial ulnar artery (SUA) is a rare anatomical variant that usually arises either in the axilla or the arm and runs a superficial course in the forearm, enters the hand, and participates in the formation of superficial palmar arch. During the routine dissection of cadavers in the department of anatomy, whilst preparing the specimen for medical students, an unusual bilateral branch of t...