Vol 64, No 4 (2005)
Original article
Published online: 2005-09-20
External diameters of the crural arteries in patients with chronic critical limb ischaemia
Folia Morphol 2005;64(4):315-320.
Abstract
Knowledge of the diameters of the crural arteries forms the basis for reconstructive
vascular surgery and percutaneous angioplasty. The external diameters of
the crural arteries were examined in 152 specimens of lower limbs by anatomical,
digital and statistical methods. The diameters of all the crural arteries were
significantly greater (p ≤ 0.01) in the male subjects. The differences between
the right and left arterial diameters were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.01) only
in relation to the posterior tibial artery. In subtypes IC and IIB the anterior tibial
artery was the strongest, the peroneal artery was of intermediate diameter and
the posterior tibial artery was the weakest. In subtype IB the anterior tibial artery
presented as the predominant vessel but in subtypes IIA-1 and IIA-2 it was the
posterior tibial artery that did so. In subtype IA 24 examples of the coexistence
of angiometric variants of the crural arteries were distinguished. It was demonstrated
that the strongest vessel was the anterior tibial artery (32.24%), rarely
the posterior tibial artery (14.47%) or the peroneal artery (9.87%). In most cases
(21.71%) three of the crural arteries had intermediate diameters. In 13.16% of
cases there were two arteries of intermediate diameter, the posterior tibial and
the peroneal, which accompanied a strong anterior tibial artery and, the least
common variant (6.58%), two intermediate tibial arteries with a weak peroneal
artery. A hyperplastic peroneal artery (6.59%) compensated for either the anterior
tibial artery (1.98%) or the posterior tibial artery (4.61%).
Keywords: infrapopliteal subtypesexternal diametercrural arteriesdigital-image analysisinfrapopliteal angioplasty