A FURTHER MORPHOLOGICAL-STUDY OF THE PERSISTENT MEDIAN ARTERY IN NEONATAL CADAVERS

Persistent median artery was studied in 60 upper limbs of 30 neonatal cadavers. It was found in 12 (20%) specimens while partial atrophy in the distal part of the median artery was detected in 9 (15%) specimens . These findings correlated well with those of other series including the authors' previous study which covered both adults and neonates. Th ere was no significant difference statistically between the authors' c urrent and previous studies (p>0,05). Therefore both studies were comb ined. The incidence of persistent median artery in this enlarged serie s (100 specimens) was 17%. This rate of persistent median artery was h igher than those of most other published series. We believe this may b e due to evolutionary and racial trends; the neonatal origin of our sp ecimens would be another differing factor. Partial atrophy of the medi an artery, and the different incidences in neonates and adults raised the possibility that the median artery regresses at a later age, possi bly during perinatal and early infancy period.