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Biomedical subjects

B J George

Publications and source records attributed to B J George.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

High frequency of the median artery of the forearm in South African newborns and infants.

In a sample of 60 neonates and infants from black communities in the Johannesburg area, the median artery of the forearm was found in 50% of individuals (11.7% in one forearm only, 38.3% in both forearms). The frequency per forearm was 44.2%, much higher than that found in any previous study, even among adults from the same community (27.1% per forearm). The artery occurs bilaterally significantly more often than it does in one antimere only. There are no differences in its frequency between sexes or between antimeres. The artery provides an additional route of blood supply to the forearm that should be kept in mind by hand surgeons. It can also be harvested for vascular grafts.

Arteries

Possible secular trend in the incidence of an anatomical variant: median artery of the forearm.

Occurrence of a secular trend in the presence of a common anatomical variant-median artery of the forearm is studied. Data from the literature indicated the incidence of the median artery to be between 4.4 and 8.3% in adult cadavers studied before 1960 while our recent study found a frequency of 27.2%. In 224 adult and 60 infant cadavers of people born between 1900 and 1991 studied using a uniform method the incidence of the median artery in the birth cohort 1900-1910 was 15.0% of individuals, it rose to 29.7% in 1921-1930 and further to 38.1% in 1951-1960 to become 52.8% in 1980-1991. This trend is statistically significant. Since the median artery is deemed to dwindle away in most individuals around the 7th week of the intrauterine life, the increasing proportion of individuals who retain it into postnatal life may indicate a recent trend in human intrauterine development.

Adult

A further study of the high incidence of the median artery of the forearm in Southern Africa.

Sixty-two forearms from 36 cadavers of South Africans of European extraction were dissected. The frequency of the median artery per forearm was 27.4%. There was neither bilateral difference nor sexual dimorphism in the incidence of the artery. These findings compare well with a previous study of black South Africans (Henneberg & George, 1992) where frequency per forearm was 27.1%. Our findings are much higher than those of earlier studies. This discrepancy may be explained either by differences in the thoroughness of the observations or regional variation, or by the occurrence of a secular trend in the development of vasculature.

Adult

High incidence of the median artery of the forearm in a sample of recent southern African cadavers.

Observations of the presence of the median artery, providing substantial blood supply to the hand, were conducted on 96 dissected forearms of 15 adult African females and 49 adult males. The artery has a much higher incidence (27.1%) than previously reported by any author. There is no significant difference in its occurrence between sexes, nor between right and left limbs. The artery seems to occur more often bilaterally than unilaterally. The presence of the artery is not related to age. From a theoretical standpoint it is difficult to accept that a structure present in more than 1 in 4 of individuals should be considered an 'anomaly' or a 'variant'. A different approach to description of normal human anatomy is therefore necessary--that of presenting alternative anatomical patterns of equal standing rather than a single 'normal' pattern.

Arteries