Prevalence of accessory head (humeral) of the biceps brachii. Literature review

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Medina Ruíz, Blas A.; Ojeda Fiore, Hugo A.; Cárdenas, Juan G.; Bernal, Manuel; Izcurdia, Clara E. & Ottone, Nicolás E.

Summary

Anatomical variations of the upper limb are frequent. The biceps brachii is considered as one of the muscles that has the most variations, especially in the number and morphology of their heads. Its importance exceeds the merely descriptive having clinical and surgical relevance. The aim of this study was to investigate and review the prevalence of the accessory head of the biceps brachii muscle, its irrigation and innervation as well as associated anatomical variations. Also we add information based on the cadaveric dissection of 20 adult cadavers formolated from February 2013 to December 2016 in the Chair of Descriptive and Topographic Anatomy of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of Asuncion, Paraguay. A case of accessory head of the biceps brachii of humeral origin was found in the right arm of a male cadaver that originated in the middle third of the anteromedial surface of the shaft of the humerus between the insertion of  the coracobrachial and the origin of the brachial, representing 5 % of the studied population. Its insertion occurred on the posterior surface of the terminal tendon of the muscle, no other associated variations were found. The variation described is among the most frequent of the upper limb. Although they can be accompanied by other muscular and vasculonerviosos variations, this did not happen in the presented case. Their presence would give greater force to the muscular action. Their knowledge is of clinical and surgical importance. The hume- ral head described is presented in its most frequent form, in a male, in the right side and originating from the anteromedial surface of the shaft humerus. All their heads including the accessory was innervated by the musculocutaneous nerve. No other anatomical variations associated with both muscular and vasculonerviosas were found.

KEY WORDS: Biceps brachii; Variants; Accessory head; Humeral head.

How to cite this article

MEDINA RUÍZ, B. A.; OJEDA FIORE, H. A.; CÁRDENAS, J. G.; BERNAL, M.; IZCURDIA, C. E. & OTTONE, N. E. Prevalence of accessory head (humeral) of the biceps brachii. Literature review. Int. J. Morphol., 35(3):1095-1101, 2017.