PERSISTENT MEDIAN ARTERY: A CASE REPORT.

Normally hand is supplied by ulnar artery and radial artery which form supercial and deep palmar arches. This complex anastomosis of arteries is responsible for anatomical variations in hand. Median artery is a transient artery. It is present during intraembryonic life and starts regression at 8th week of intraembryonic life. In rare circumstances it persists known as persistent median artery, which is usually asymptomatic, but sometime it may lead to Carpal tunnel syndrome and other pathologies also. During routine dissection of a 65-year-old male cadaver, persistent median artery was found to be involved in the formation of supercial palmar arch along with ulnar artery in the right hand. It was a branch of anterior interosseous artery and pierces the median nerve under the cover of pronator teres. It further accompanies the median nerve in forearm. Both median nerve and median artery along with venae comitantes are plastered to each other passing underneath exor retinaculum and the median artery nally terminate in hand by joining lateral end of supercial palmer arch. Here it gives various muscular branches to thenar muscles. In our case the common interosseous artery is absent and Radial artery was not involved in the formation of supercial palmar arch Finally, we can conclude that our hand are involved in various activities, so chances of various neurovascular pathologies are more common in hands. So, it is important for plastic surgeons and orthopedicians to know about variant vasculature including persistent median artery and variation in its further course.