Vascular Anomalies in the Course and Branching Pattern of the Dorsalis Pedis Artery: A Case Report

Abstract

The dorsalis pedis artery (DPA) vascularizes most of the dorsum of the foot where it provides several branches. During a scheduled examination of the lower extremities of a male cadaver, a significant deviation was observed in the course and pattern of distribution of the left DPA. The artery trifurcated from its point of origin and was found to deviate from its normal course on the superior surface of the intermediate cuneiform, talus, and navicular bones. A lack of the arcuate artery was observed, and a varied branching pattern was established among the branches of the DPA on the dorsum of the foot. Knowing the detailed anatomy of the DPA and understanding its variability is of great clinical importance to surgeons, radiologists, and orthopedists due to the usefulness of this artery in different surgical interventions relating to the foot.

Ultrasound imaging of the dorsalis pedis artery as an early indicator of the precursory changes for rheumatoid vasculitis: A case series

“…35 RADAI-5 has five questions about RA health, including recent pain, joint symptoms and general health experienced 'today' or 'yesterday' and disease activity in the last 6 months. 31 Overall scores of the RADAI-5 range from 0 to 10; with moderate disease activity indicated by scores between 3.2 and 5.4 and scores 5.6 to 10 for high disease activity. 35,38 Due to the small sample size, data from both legs of the same participant were used, and a conservative non-parametric Friedman test (two-way design) was conducted to compare arterial wall inflammation, artery diameter, lumen diameter and lumen diameter-to-artery diameter ratio and peak systolic velocity.…”

“…The proximal section of the DPA was identified with ultrasound in the longitudinal section, as the continuation of the anterior tibial artery, beginning at the distal tibial mortice (Figure 1b) and adjusted for anatomical variation. 28,30,31 A slight movement of the foot was engaged to define and demonstrate the border of inflammation compared to adjacent anatomical structures. Five parameters were scanned and measured bilaterally to assess DPA integrity from each participant and averaged for analysis.…”