SUMMARY: Arterial variations in the upper limbs can cause iatrogenic injury during invasive procedures. During educational dissection of countered uncommon branching patterns of the axillary artery which have not yet been reported yet, to our knowledge. First, the second part of the axillary artery was divided into three trunks. The lateral trunk ran downward as a superficial brachioradial artery. The medial trunk raised the lateral thoracic artery, and was divided into the subscapular artery and the posterior circumflex humeral artery. The intermediate trunk branched off the anterior circumflex humeral artery as expected for an axillary artery. Second, in the other cadaver, we found a common trunk containing the thoracoacromial artery and a bulk artery dividing into three branches, the subscapular, posterior circumflex humeral, and lateral thoracic arteries. Taken together, we discuss the clinical implications and possible developmental origins of variations in the axillary artery branching and course.
KEY WORDS: Arterial variations; Axillary artery; Upper limb; Branching patterns.
