A CADAVERIC STUDY OF VARIATION IN THE BRANCHING PATTERN OF THE AXILLARY ARTERY IN INDIAN POPULATION (SAGAR, M.P) & IT'S CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Background: - The axillary artery is a continuation of the subclavian artery which begins at the outer border of the rst rib & ends at the inferior border of the Teres major and continue further distally as the brachial artery. The pectoralis minor muscle crosses anteriorly and divides the artery into three parts, proximal, posterior and distal parts in relation to the muscle.There are mainly 6 named branches of Axillary artery; 1st part gives one branch i.e. superior thoracic artery; 2nd part gives two named branches i.e. lateral thoracic artery & thoraco-acromial artery and the 3rd part gives three named branches i.e. Subscapular artery, Anterior circumex humeral artery & the Posterior circumex humeral artery. Subscapular artery further divides into circumex scapular and thoraco-dorsal arteries. -To study the variations Aims &Objectives: in branching pattern of axillary artery in human cadavers making it worthwhile to take any anomaly into consideration. And to correlate the ndings with the available literature. The type and frequency of these vascular variations is well understood and documented. Also to calculate Prevalence of the present study and measure its signicance with previous known studies. The formalin preserved 50 cadavers [100 limb Material &Methods:- s] in the Department of Anatomy of Bundelkhand Medical College, Sagar, M.P, India were studied in duration of 2yrs. Cadaver withdeformed or traumatized upper extremities & autopsied bodies were excluded from the study.All the branches of three parts of axillary artery carefully cleaned and studied. Variations in the branching pattern arising from three parts of axillary artery was recorded. In this study, 53 specimens Results:- showed no variations in all the 3 parts of Axillary artery [53%]. In 47 specimens, showed variation in branching pattern of axillary artery [47%]. Prevalence shown in present study becomes 47%.Out of 47 specimens, 03 specimens showed variation in all the 3parts of axillary artery [6.4 %].03 specimens showed variation in both 1st& 2nd part of axillary artery [6.4 %].19 specimens showed variation in both 2nd& 3rd part of Axillary artery [40.40%].22 specimens showed variation in only 3rd part of axillary artery [46.80 %] . The a Conclusion:- xillary artery extends from the outer border of rst rib to lower border of teres major. The course of axillary artery was normal. The axillary vein accompanied the artery Antero medially throughout its course.Number of named branches arising from the axillary artery ranges from 03 - 07, and the most commonly observed number was 6 in 56% of specimens. The superior thoracic artery arose from rst part of axillary artery in all the limbs. The thoraco acromial artery arose from the second part of axillary artery in 83%. In 85 specimens, the Lateral Thoracic artery originates from the second part of axillary artery (85%). In 92 specimens, the ACHA originates from the third part of axillary artery (92%). In 74 specimens, the PCHA originates from the third part of axillary artery (74%) .The Subscapular artery was present in 92 specimens (92%);In 66 out of 92 specimens, the SCA originates from the originates from 3nd part of axillary artery (71.74 %). Normally PBA originates from Brachial artery but in this study, 02 specimens showed its origin from Axillary artery [02%] of which 1 specimen showed its origin from 2nd part while 1 specimen showed from 3rd part of axillary artery. Knowledge of the axillary artery, branching pattern and its variation is important during antegrade cerebral perfusion in aortic surgery, in treating the axillary artery thrombosis, medial arm skin ap, in reconstruction of axillary artery in case of traumatic injury and in axillary – coronary bypass shunt procedures. So, the normal anatomy and variations of axillary artery are very important to the Anatomists, Surgeons, Anesthetists, Radiologists, Cardiologists and Plastic surgeons for accurate diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.