OCCLUSION OF THE POSTERIOR HUMERAL CIRCUMFLEX ARTERY - DETECTION WITHNIR ANGIOGRAPHY IN HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS AND IN A PATIENT WITH QUADRILATERAL SPACE SYNDROME
T. Mochizuki et al., OCCLUSION OF THE POSTERIOR HUMERAL CIRCUMFLEX ARTERY - DETECTION WITHNIR ANGIOGRAPHY IN HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS AND IN A PATIENT WITH QUADRILATERAL SPACE SYNDROME, American journal of roentgenology, 163(3), 1994, pp. 625-627
OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness
of MR angiography in detecting occlusion of the posterior humeral cir
cumflex artery and to determine if the finding is specific for the dia
gnosis of quadrilateral space syndrome. SUBJECTS AND METHODS, Two-dime
nsional fast low-angle shot MR angiography was used to image both shou
lders of one symptomatic patient and six asymptomatic volunteers (10 p
osterior humeral circumflex arteries). RESULTS. With the arm in a neut
ral position, the posterior humeral circumflex arteries appeared norma
l on MR angiograms of all subjects. However, when the arm was in abduc
tion, occlusion of the posterior humeral circumflex artery was seen bo
th in the symptomatic patient and in 80% of the asymptomatic volunteer
s. CONCLUSION. Our data show that occlusion of the posterior humeral c
ircumflex artery is common in asymptomatic volunteers. Thus, MR angiog
raphy has no value in the diagnosis of quadrilateral space syndrome.