Concomitant variations of the brachial plexus and third part of axillary artery in a middle aged female cadaver: an original case report

Variations of the brachial plexus and axillary artery were found in the left side of a female cadaver during undergraduate dissection in Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, Sawangi (Meghe) Wardha. The C5 and C6 root ran individually till above the upper border of clavicle and joined to form the upper trunk, which, bifurcated into anterior and posterior divisions. The posterior divisions of the middle and lower trunks united first and then with that of the upper at the lateral border of the subscapularis and continued as the radial nerve. The upper subscapular, lower subscapular and the axillary nerves were branches of the posterior divisions of the upper trunk. This was associated with variation in the third part of axillary artery, which was in form of a common vascular pedicle which encircled the roots of radial nerve. The variations as found, assume importance during therapeutic and invasive procedures undertaken in this region. © Int J Anat Var (IJAV). 2014; 7: 10–13.