A composite study of the subclavian artery in man

Abstract

WITH ' 7 FIQTJBES AND 18 TABLES.Several years ago Hitzrot made a study of the axillary artery based upon records made in the Anatomical Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University. To supplement this, the following study of the subclavian artery was made at the suggestion of Dr. Harrison. The clinical features relating to the artery are given in another article.'That there is need for further data concerning the ramifications of this artery is apparent when the accompanying figures, taken from a number of universally recognized authorities, are compared. From them it is seen, that, while certain branches such as the vertebral and internal mammary are represented in the same manner by all, there is the widest divergence with regard to the other branches.The records which underlie the present study were made by myself, from the dissections 'by students of anatomy, upon Bmdeen's char@.' Dissections from 129 subjects are recorded, 60 from the left side of the body and 69 from the right side. Some of these records are complete t o the minutest detail; nearly all give the origin .of the main branches; while a few are incomplete, giving only the subclavian artery and some of its branches, or only a few branches without the subclavian artery. The distribution of the vertebral artery inside the skull was not worked out, because many of the cadavers were not obtained until after the brain had been removed. The distribution of the internal mammary artery was worked out completely in but 28 caaes because of the removal of the sternum at the autopsy in the others.

Lateral costal artery: Accessory thoracic vessel of clinical interest

“…This would be an expression of an evolutionary process which, owing to the relatively high incidence of the LCA (30.1% of cases at intraoperative survey, 24.3% of which are bilateral) (Sutherland and Desai, 2000), is not fully concluded up to now. Indeed, cases in which a long LCA extending over six or more intercostal spaces and as large as the ITA (Kropp, 1951;Testut and Latarjet, 1972;Henriquez-Pino et al, 1997) and reaching the diaphragm (Bean, 1905;DeGaris, 1924) have been reported, further supporting the above hypothesis. In fact, if a LCA has the same caliber as the ITA, both arteries should be considered as branches of a common trunk.…”

“…In humans the ITA shows different origin from the subclavian artery, even indirect, via a common trunk with other branches (Bean, 1905;Henriquez-Pino et al, 1993. In humans a different origin could be analogous to that normal in some mammals, but, to our knowledge, this was not proved.…”

“…The LCA has been regarded as an accessory internal mammary artery by some authors (Poirier and Charpy in 1902, quoted by Kropp, 1951). The terms of internal thoracic and lateral thoracic, adopted by Hodges in 1867 (quoted by Kropp, 1951) and Bean (1905), respectively, should be avoided, because these terms refer to other arteries of the thoracic wall.…”

Study on the Subclavian Artery and its Branches in Japanese Adults

“…28) These results show that this Type d, appearing in more than half of the total, is remarkably common among whites, whereas it only appears in approximately 10% of Asians, including fetuses. The incidence of Type g, which is a form of Type c lacking Ss, has been reported to be only 0-4% in whites and negroes, 7,12,13,29,35,44) in contrast to the finding of 20% in Asians,27'*) indicating that it is a type appearing more commonly in Asians. In our study, we found that Type a, which exhibits a common trunk formed by Ca and Tif only, appeared with an incidence of 11.1% , but has been little reported by other researchers.…”

“…5,6,10,26) There have been numerous reports of substantial individual and racial differences in the position of arterial branches and the nature of their ramifications as a result of various factors that have an influence on morphosis. 7,12,13,17,21,27,29,33,35,44) However, there are almost no reports of studies that have attempted to characterize and classify the ramification and positions of the entire array of branches arising from the subclavian artery. The only relevant reports in Japan were those by Adachi (28)1) and Ouchi ('63)3°), who described the subclavian artery ramification in Japanese adults, and that by Mori (P41)28), who described Japanese fetuses.…”