Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome consists in decompression of the median nerve by section of the flexor retinaculum. Usually, this surgery improves the disease with disappearance of the symptoms. However, some painful sequelae may remain such as painful discharges, paresthesiae or permanent anesthesia of the base of the thumb or of the scar related to an injury of the palmar cutaneous branch of the median nerve (PCBm). This study was performed to define the accurate emergence and the anatomic characteristics of this nerve in relation to stable landmarks. Moreover, it assessed the importance of the visual identification of the branch during section of the flexor retinaculum. Thirty-five hands were dissected under macroscopic examination and under magnification of the thinnest branches. Measurements were performed with a caliper and the forearm in supination. Determination of the bistyloid line showed variability in the location of the distal wrist crease. Thus, it could not be used as a landmark to locate the PCBm. The palmar cutaneous branch is the distal collateral branch of the median nerve in the forearm. It emerges on its radial side, on average 44.3 mm before the bistyloid line. It courses in line with the third finger and perforates the antebrachial aponeurosis about 5.7 mm from the bistyloid line. This emergence can be located in the palm, where it can be injured if the incision is performed in line with the third finger. The PCBm usually ends in the palm by division into two or three branches. The lateral branch supplies the skin of the thenar eminence while the medial, usually shorter branch supplies the midline part of the palm. This study has shown the importance of performing the cutaneous incision in line with the fourth finger to avoid injury to the PCBm.

The tubercle of Zuckerkandl is a poorly known and variable anatomical feature of the thyroid gland which may not, in fact, be so rare. It arises for embryological reasons, and it can be a reliable anatomical landmark for identifying the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery. It should be included in the Nomina Anatomica as the 'processus posterior glandulae thyroideae' described by Zuckerkandl.

In an attempt to elucidate the causes of occlusion of radial arteries used for coronary artery bypass grafts and to improve the results of these procedures, we studied the biometry and histology of the coronary, radial and left internal thoracic arteries. These arteries were harvested from 20 cadavers (13 males, 7 females). The specimens were calibrated to the various bypass graft sites using coronary calibrators, and were then submitted to histological examination to determine the structure and innervation of the vessel wall. No correlation was observed between the internal calibers of these various arteries, with the exception of the anterior interventricular and right coronary arteries. Intimal changes and the presence of atheromatous plaque were observed in coronary and radial arteries, but never in the internal thoracic artery. Like the coronary arteries and their branches, the radial artery is a muscular artery. Aging of muscular arteries results in thickening of the intima, which becomes fibrotic due to migration of myocytes from the media and duplication of the internal elastic lamina. The media becomes fibrous, hypertrophic or atrophic. The walls of the radial and coronary arteries contain several adventitial nerves (sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve fibers), but these nerve fibers were not observed in the wall of the left internal thoracic artery. In contrast, the internal thoracic artery, like the aorta, is an elastic artery. Aging of elastic arteries is first observed between the ages of 20 and 29 years and is characterized by loss of one or several elastic laminae of the media and more marked intimal thickening, over a variable length. Even if a radial artery's caliber is similar to that of the coronary artery, histological evolution and graft patency depend on its muscular identity.

The purpose of this study was to determine the biomechanical properties of the knee meniscus and to relate them to its ultrastructure. The knee joint menisci are semicircular, fibrocartilaginous structures interposed between the femoral and tibial condyles. For a long time, they were considered to be embryologic vestiges. This study describes the response of the knee joint meniscus to circumferential, radial and axial compressive forces. The results show an anisotropic response of the knee joint meniscus to unconfined compression. The Young's modulus increased approximately twofold between vertical and circumferential or radial directions with a 10 mm/min-compression rate. This response is probably a direct consequence of the orientation of collagen fibres.

Safeguarding of the inferior laryngeal nerve is the principal and obligatory stake in thyroid surgery. Locating the inferior laryngeal nerve at the level of its laryngeal penetration at the superior pole of the thyroid region is necessary in cases of particular situations: huge cervicothoracic goitres, re-operative procedures and various anatomical variations. The use of a neurostimulator secures this technique.