An unusual course of the radial artery

Radial artery variations are of importance for clinicians, whether in angiographic examinations or surgical approaches. The high origin radial artery is the most frequent arterial variation observed in the upper limb, showing an incidence of 14.27% in dissection material and 9.75% in angiographic examination. In the present study an unusual course of the radial artery and its relation with the median nerve has been evaluated. During embryological development the radial artery sprouts from two arterial buds arising from the lateral side of the brachial artery and coalescing with each other. The artery lies in the forearm and is overlapped by the brachioradial muscle. In this particular case the radial artery originated from the medial side of the brachial artery and crossed the median nerve twice in an unusual manner 8 cm below the point at which the deep brachial artery arose and 12 cm above the intercondylar line. These results will enhance anatomical knowledge of the region and reduce complication in surgical approaches

Body height estimation based on dimensions of sacral and coccygeal vertebrae

This study is to evaluate whether it is possible to predict living stature from sacral and coccygeal vertebral dimensions. Individual vertebral body heights, sacral height (SH), and sacrococcygeal height (SCH) were recorded from the magnetic resonance images of 42 adult males. Sum of the heights of five sacral vertebrae (ES), the first four coccygeal vertebrae (SigmaC), and the total height of the sacral and the first four coccygeal vertebrae together (SigmaSC) were also recorded. Linear regression equations for stature estimation were produced using the above mentioned variables. The regression equations were constructed and tested by using jack-knife procedure. Statistical analyses indicated that the combined variables (SH, SCH, SigmaS, SigmaC, SigmaSC) were more accurate predictors of stature than the heights of individual vertebrae. The results of the study pointed out that the equations derived from sacrococcygeal dimensions perform somewhat better than ones based on foot and head variables, but worse than those based on long-bone length. As a conclusion, the dimensions of sacral and coccygeal vertebrae could be used for stature estimation when long bones are not available