Vol 67, No 4 (2008)
Original article
Published online: 2008-09-30
An anatomical study of the origins of the lateral circumflex femoral artery in the Turkish population
Folia Morphol 2008;67(4):226-230.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the origins of the lateral circumflex
femoral artery (LCFA) in the Turkish population. For this purpose, we investigated
110 inguinal regions of 56 cadavers between 1997 and 2007. The
LCFA was found to be branched from the deep femoral artery (DFA) in
85 (77.3%) cases and from the femoral artery (FA) in 21 (19.1%) cases. In two
(1.8%) cases the ascending and the descending branches of the LCFA branched
separately from the DFA and FA. There was a common trunk of the DFA and
the LCFA in one (0.9%) case, and a common trunk of the DFA, LCFA and the
medial circumflex femoral artery (MCFA) (trifurcation) in another (0.9%). We
also measured the distance between the mid-inguinal point (MIP) and the
origin of the LCFA. For LCFAs branching from the DFA the mean distance
between these points was 4.8 ± 1.2 cm, while for LCFAs branching from the
FA the mean distance was 3.4 ± 0.9 cm. We discuss the clinical importance
of the artery and compare the results with the literature.
Keywords: lateral circumflex femoral arteryanatomyvariation