Although the baboon is considered a good animal model in biomedical research,
no description of the superficial veins of the foot in Papio anubis is found in the available literature. The current study was conducted to document the anatomy of these veins in the baboon foot.
A macroscopic anatomical investigation was carried out on 20 hind legs
(10 cadavers) of the adult Papio anubis (9 males and 1 female). The circulatory system of the entire body was filled with coloured latex. Traditional methods were used for the preparation of the veins of the legs. These were then compared with the venous system of the lower extremities in humans as presented in the literature.
The medial and lateral metatarsal veins, the dorsal venous network, the long
saphenous vein and the short saphenous vein in Papio anubis were described according to their origin, course, opening, length and diameter. The network observed was divided into three types with respect to the connections between the superficial veins. The investigation revealed no symmetry in the venous system
of the baboon foot.
The short saphenous vein appeared to be the main vein of the hind leg in Papio anubis and the long saphenous vein ran as a double vessel

Dyl, Ł.

Topol, M.

English

Via Medica Journals

Folia Morphol. Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 15–19Copyright © 2007 Via MedicaISSN 0015–5659www.fm.viamedica.plO R I G I N A L   A R T I C L E15Address for correspondence: M. Topol, Department of Angiology, Chair of Anatomy, Narutowicza 60, 90–136 Łódź, Poland,tel: +48 42 630 49 49, e-mail: mtopol@toya.net.plSuperficial veins of the foot in the baboonPapio anubisŁ. Dyl, M. TopolDepartment of Angiology, Chair of Anatomy, Medical University, Łódź, Poland[Received 6 September 2006; Revised 23 November 2006; Accepted 23 November 2006]Although the baboon is considered a good animal model in biomedical research,no description of the superficial veins of the foot in Papio anubis is found in theavailable literature. The current study was conducted to document the anatomyof these veins in the baboon foot.A macroscopic anatomical investigation was carried out on 20 hind legs(10 cadavers) of the adult Papio anubis (9 males and 1 female). The circulatorysystem of the entire body was filled with coloured latex. Traditional methodswere used for the preparation of the veins of the legs. These were then com-pared with the venous system of the lower extremities in humans as presentedin the literature.The medial and lateral metatarsal veins, the dorsal venous network, the longsaphenous vein and the short saphenous vein in Papio anubis were describedaccording to their origin, course, opening, length and diameter. The networkobserved was divided into three types with respect to the connections betweenthe superficial veins. The investigation revealed no symmetry in the venous sys-tem of the baboon foot.The short saphenous vein appeared to be the main vein of the hind leg in Papioanubis and the long saphenous vein ran as a double vessel.Key words: anatomy, baboon Papio anubis, superficial veinsof the foot, short saphenous vein, long saphenous veinINTRODUCTIONThe baboon has been considered a good animalmodel in biomedical research [9], but no descriptionof the superficial veins of the foot in Papio anubis isfound in the available literature. Knowledge of theanatomy of the venous system is important because,as the biomedical model used in research, the baboonis administered medicaments through the venous ves-sels. We have, however, found research into the veinsof the hind leg in apes such as Macaca fascicularis,Macaca rhesus, Macaca cynomolgus and Macaca mu-latta [7, 12, 16, 20]. The present study was thereforeundertaken to fill the gap in baboon research and todocument the anatomy of the superficial veins of theleg in these apes. In addition, a comparison is drawnbetween the venous anatomy of baboons and humansas two species of primates, although the reasons forthe similarities and differences could form the subjectof a further study.The superficial venous system of the human lowerlimb originates from multiple small veins in the skinand the muscles of the foot, leg and thigh. These smallvessels run into the larger ones, namely the great saphe-nous vein and the small saphenous vein [17]. These inturn open into the profound venous system at thesaphenofemoral and saphenopopliteal junctions [13],or as perforators drain through the muscular fascia [11].The superficial veins run in the subcutaneous tissue16Folia Morphol., 2007, Vol. 66, No. 1just below dermis in a compartment delimited by themembranous layer of the superficial fascia [2–5, 17].MATERIAL AND METHODSThe macroscopic anatomical investigation was car-ried out on 20 hind legs (10 cadavers) of the adultPapio anubis (9 males and 1 female). The circulatorysystem of the entire body was filled with coloured la-tex (the arteries via the common carotid artery and theveins via the internal jugular vein). Traditional meth-ods were used to prepare the veins of the legs. Theresults were compared with the venous system of thelower extremities in humans as presented in the litera-ture. Observations focused on the beginning, the end-ing, the course and the number of vessels. The lengthand the external diameter of the veins were measured.The venous system of the Papio anubis foot and legwere photographed. In describing the vessels exam-ined we have used the anatomical names of humanand ape veins presented in the literature [4, 6, 20].RESULTSThe venous system of the baboon foot was found tobegin in the toes. Two veins of each digit, termed the“dorsal digital veins” of the foot, ran dorsolaterally toeach toe. The diameter of each of these veins was lessthan 1 mm. The external vein of the first digit ran as themedial marginal vein and that of the fifth digit as thelateral marginal vein of the foot. The dorsal digital veins,which were situated on the lateral surfaces of the digits,connected together to form the dorsal metatarsal veins.The medial marginal vein of the foot (MMV) ran asa continuation of the external vein of the first digit atthe medial part of the foot. This vein was 9–10 cmlong and 0.5 mm wide and formed a single trunk. Theend of MMV connected to the dorsal venous arch andran as the long saphenous vein (LSV).The lateral marginal vein (LMV) ran as a continua-tion of the fifth digit external vein at the lateral part ofthe foot. This vein was 7–8 cm long and 1 mm wideand, like MMV, formed a single trunk. The end of theLMV connected to the dorsal venous arch and formedthe short saphenous vein (SSV).The dorsal venous arch (DVA) ran between the endsof MMV and LMV. It was situated on the dorsal sur-face of the foot and drained from the dorsal metatar-sal veins or from a larger trunk formed from the unionof these veins. The DVA was 4–5 cm long and 1–3 mmwide (Fig. 1).The LMV, MMV, dorsal metatarsal veins and DVAwere connected in various ways to form the dorsalvenous network of the foot (Fig. 2). According toFigure 1. The dorsal venous network of the left foot in Papioanubis; 1 — the metatarsal veins; 2 — the lateral marginal vein;3 — the medial marginal vein; 4 — the dorsal venous arch;5 — the short saphenous vein; 6 — the long saphenous vein.The dorsal view of the left foot in Papio anubis. Bare 1 cm.Figure 2. Scheme of the three types of dorsal venous network ofthe foot of Papio anubis. Type I — in variant A two metatarsalveins join to form one larger metatarsal trunk. Two metatarsaltrunks course into the dorsal venous arch forming two junctionswith it. In variant B two metatarsal veins form a metatarsal trunkthat joins the dorsal venous arch, while one metatarsal veinopens into the dorsal venous arch separately. The other metatar-sal vein (the first) joins the lateral marginal vein. Type II — threemetatarsal veins, which reach the dorsal venous arch and join itat one spot, form a single junction with the dorsal venous arch inits middle part. Type III — each of four metatarsal veins opensseparately into the dorsal venous arch, forming four junctionswith it; 1 — the short saphenous vein; 2 — the dorsal venousarch; 3 — the long saphenous vein.17Ł. Dyl, M. Topol, Superficial veins of the foot in the baboon Papio anubisthe relationship between these veins, we divided thedorsal venous network of the foot into the follow-ing three types:— type I, the most common (50% of all feet), wheretwo metatarsal veins forming one larger meta-tarsal trunk joined DVA. We distinguished twovariants within type I, variants A and B. In variantA two metatarsal veins joined to form one largermetatarsal trunk. Two metatarsal trunks flowedinto DVA, forming two junctions with DVA. In vari-ant B two metatarsal veins formed a metatarsaltrunk that joined DVA while one metatarsal veinopened into DVA separately. This type was foundas variant A in 4 feet (20%), 3 left and 1 right, andas variant B in 6 feet (30%), 3 left and 3 right;— type II, where three metatarsal veins joined andreached DVA at one spot, forming only one junc-tion with DVA in its middle part. These veins ranapproximately radially towards one point. Thefourth metatarsal vein joined LMV. This type wasfound in 6 feet (30%), 2 left and 4 right;— type III, where each of the four metatarsal veinsopened into DVA separately, forming four junc-tions with DVA. The courses of these veins wereapproximately parallel. This type was found in4 feet (20%), 2 left and 2 right.The dorsal venous network extended to the larg-er vessels of the leg. The LSV lay in the medial partand SSV on the lateral part of the leg. No symmetrybetween two feet was observed in the dorsal venousnetwork.The plantar venous network consisted of the plan-tar digital veins of the foot, which were situated plan-tolaterally to the digits. Two plantar digital veins con-nected together to form the plantar metatarsal veinswhich ran to the plantar vein. These veins formedthe plantar venous network. The plantar vein had itsoutflow in the middle of LSV. Small veins of the plan-tar skin reached MMV, LMV and the distal parts ofLSV and SSV (Fig. 3).The SSV ran as a single vessel on the lateral andthe posterior parts of the leg, from the lateral partof the foot to the popliteal fossa. It originated be-hind the lateral malleolus and appeared to be a con-tinuation of LMV after its connection with DVA. Itemptied into the popliteal vein at the saphenopo-pliteal junction just above the popliteal fossa. Thelength of this vein ranged from 22 cm to 24.5 cmand the width from 3 to 5 mm (Fig. 4).The LSV ran as a double vessel medially on theleg and the thigh. Distally, near to the medial malle-olus of the tibia, LSV began as a two-trunk vesselFigure 3. The superficial vessels of the medial side of the left legin Papio anubis; 1 — the long saphenous vein; 2 — the femoro-crural artery; 3 — the plantar vein; 4 — the plantar artery; 5 —the medial malleolus. Medial view of the left leg in Papio anubis.Bare 1 cm.Figure 4. The beginning of the short saphenous vein in Papioanubis; 1 — the short saphenous vein; 2 — the lateral marginalvein; 3 — the metatarsal veins; 4 — the dorsal venous arch;5 — the lateral malleolus. Lateral view of the foot in Papioanubis. Bare 1 cm.18Folia Morphol., 2007, Vol. 66, No. 1after the connection of DVA with MMV. Proximally,two trunks of LSV emptied into the femoral vein withtwo saphenofemoral junctions. The femorocruralartery, which ran as an accompanying artery, wasenclosed by these trunks. The length of LSV rangedfrom 20.5 cm to 21.4 cm and the width of one trunkfrom 1.5 to 2.5 mm (Fig. 3, 5).The popliteal vein and the femoral vein belongedto the deep venous system. Veins from the musclesand small veins from the skin, which numbered from7 to 13, extended to LSV and SSV.DISCUSSIONThe descriptions of the superficial veins of thehuman lower limb in the literature have usually beenassociated with their clinical aspects, such as vari-cose veins, thrombosis and by-pass. We have notfound any study of vein disease in Papio anubis, norhave we found any description of the anatomy ofthe baboon leg veins. We supposed that the expla-nation for this might lie in possible differences be-tween the anatomy of the superficial veins of theleg in human and apes.The great saphenous vein is the main superficialvein of the lower limb in humans. It is a long vein,which runs along the medial aspect of the leg andthe thigh and increases in diameter gradually as itapproaches the saphenofemoral junction [18]. It gen-erally runs as a single vein, but duplication or eventriplication of various levels of the lower extremityhave been reported [8, 15, 19]. Five types of outletare known of the great saphenous vein and its trib-utaries into the femoral vein [14]. Tributaries of thegreat saphenous vein have been found in both adults[13, 14] and foetuses [1].The small saphenous vein is not as significant asthe great saphenous vein, which is involved seventimes as often in varicose veins [17]. Four types ofoutflow of the small saphenous vein into the poplitealvein have been described in humans [10, 15, 17].In apes SSV was found to be the main vein of theleg. It was a single large vessel, which emptied intothe deep veins above the popliteal fossa. In contrast,LSV was double and thin. The vessel’s width did notvary as it approached the saphenofemoral junction.We found only one type of SSV outflow into thepopliteal vein and one type of LSV outflow into thefemoral vein in Papio anubis, and the superficial veinsentered the profound veins separately.Załuska and Urbanowicz [20] classified the su-perficial venous system of the foot into 5 types inhumans and into 8 types in Macaca rhesus and Maca-ca cynomolgus. They took into consideration not onlyrelation of the dorsal metatarsal veins and the dor-sal venous arch but also the variety of connectionbetween the dorsal metatarsal veins. Our study ofthis problem showed three types of superficial venoussystem in Papio anubis.The veins of the foot of both the Papio anubisand the Macaca formed a superficial system that ranas the long and small saphenous veins. We did notnotice the veins of the foot running proximally inthe leg along the anterior and posterior tibial artery,which belong to the profound venous system, as isthe case in humans. The deep veins of the leg wereformed by tributaries arising from the muscles ofthe leg at two thirds of its height.CONCLUSIONS1. In our material three types of the superficial venoussystem of the foot were found in Papio anubis.Among them type I was the most common, oc-curring in 50% of all feet, where two metatarsalveins forming trunks joined DVA at two junctions.2. The SSV, which ran laterally on the leg andopened into the popliteal vein, was the main veinof the leg in Papio anubis3. In Papio anubis LSV ran as a double vessel on themedial side of the leg and the thigh and openedinto the femoral vein.4. No symmetry was observed in the dorsal venousnetwork in Papio anubis.REFERENCES1. Bruska M, Woźniak W (1996) Connections betweenthe great saphenous vein and cutaneous veins ofthe thigh in human foetuses. Folia Morphol, 55:222–223.Figure 5. The area of the saphenofemoral junction (vessels de-flected with Péan clamp; 1 — two trunks of the long saphenousvein; 2 — the femorocrural artery; 3 — the femoral vein. Medialview of the left thigh in Papio anubis. Bare 1 cm.19Ł. Dyl, M. Topol, Superficial veins of the foot in the baboon Papio anubis2. Caggiati A (2000) Fascial relations and structure of thetributaries of the saphenous veins. Surg Radiol Anat, 22:191–196.3. Caggiati A (2001) Fascial relationship of the shortsaphenous vein. J Vasc Surg, 34: 241–246.4. Caggiati A (2004) The nomenclature of the veinsof the lower limbs, based on their plantar anato-my and fascial relationships. Acta Chir Belg, 104:272–275.5. Caggiati A (1999) The saphenous venous compart-ments. Surg Radiol Anat, 21: 29–34.6. Caggiati A, Bergan JJ, Gloviczki P, Eklof B, Allegra C,Partsch H (2005) Nomenclature of the veins of the low-er limb: extension, refinements and clinical applica-tion. J Vasc Surg, 41: 719–724.7. Chapple CR, Wood BA (1980) Venous drainage of thehind limb in the monkey (Macaca fascicularis). J AnatAug, 131 (Pt. 1): 157–171.8. Corrales NE, Irvine A, McGuinness CL, Dourado R, Burnand KG(2002) Incidence and pattern of long saphenous vein du-plication and its possible implications for recurrence af-ter varicose vein surgery. Br J Surg, 89: 323–326.9. Dormehl IC, Hugo N, Beverly G (1992) The baboon: anideal model in biomedical research. Anesth Pain Con-trol Dent, 1: 109–115.10. Engel AF, Davies G, Keeman JN, Dorp TA (1994) Co-lour flow imaging of the normal short saphenous vein.Eur J Vasc Surg, 8: 179–181.11. Gillot C (1997) Superficial veins of the lower limbs.Ann Chir, 51: 713–727.12. Goscicka D (1967) Saphenous vein valves of Macacamulatta. Ann Acad Med Stetin, 13: 97–101.13. Haeger K (1962) The surgical anatomy of the saphe-no-femoral and the sapheno-popliteal junctions. J Car-diovasc Surg (Torino), 3: 420–427.14. Janowski K, Topol M (2004) Types of outlet of the ma-jor saphenous vein tributaries in patients with chronicvein insufficiency of the lower limbs. Folia Morphol, 63:473–479.15. Kosiński C (1926) Observations on the superficial venoussystem of the lower extremity. J Anat, 60: 131–142.16. Murawski E (1965) Superficial veins of the dorsum ofthe foot in the monkey Macaca mulatta. Ann AcadMed Stetin, 11: 229–236.17. Nabatoff RA (1979) The short saphenous vein. SurgGynecol Obstetr, 149: 49–53.18. Navarro TP, Delis KT, Ribeiro AP (2002) Clinical andhemodynamic significance of the greater saphenousvein diameter in chronic venous insufficiency. ArchSurg, 137: 1233–1237.19. Shah DM, Chang BB, Leopold PW, Corson JD, Leather RP,Karmody AM (1986) The anatomy of the greater saphe-nous venous system. J Vasc Surg, 3: 273–283.20. Załuska S, Urbanowicz Z (1969) Żyły powierchownekończyny dolnej u człowieka i makaków. Folia Mor-phol, 28: 273–283.

Superficial veins of the foot in the baboon Papio anubis

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Superficial veins of the foot in the baboon Papio anubis

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