Anatomic study of the infrapopliteal vessels

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to study and analyse the anatomical variations of the infrapopliteal vessels concerning their branching pattern. A reliable sample of one hundred formalin fixed adult cadavers were dissected by the Anatomical Laboratory of Athens University. The variations can be classified in the following way; the normal branching of the popliteal artery was present in 90%. The remaining, reveal variant branching patterns; hypoplastic or aplastic posterior tibial artery (PT) and the pedis arteries arise from the peroneal (3%); hypoplastic or aplastic anterior tibial artery (AT) (1.5%); the dorsalis pedis is formed by two equal branches, arising from the peroneal and the anterior tibial artery (2%). The variations were more frequent in females and in short-height individuals. Knowledge of these variations is rather important for any invasive technic concerning lower extremities.