The superficial palmar arch is formed predominantly by the

ulnar artery The ulnar artery is the main blood vessel, with oxygenated blood, of the Human Anatomical Terms#Anatomical directions, medial aspects of the forearm. It arises from the brachial artery and terminates in the superficial palmar arch, which joins ...

, with a contribution from the

superficial palmar branch of the radial artery The superficial palmar branch of the radial artery arises from the radial artery, just where this vessel is about to wind around the lateral side of the wrist. Running forward, it passes through, occasionally over, the thenar muscles, which it su ...

. However, in some individuals the contribution from the radial artery might be absent, and instead anastomoses with either the

princeps pollicis artery The princeps pollicis artery, or principal artery of the thumb, arises from the radial artery just as it turns medially towards the deep part of the hand; it descends between the first dorsal interosseous muscle and the oblique head of the adduct ...

, the radialis indicis artery, or the

median artery The median artery is an artery that is occasionally found in humans and other animals. The prevalence was around 10% in people born in the mid-1880s compared to 30% in those born in the late 20th century, and 35% of people born as of 2020; a sig ...

, the former two of which are branches from the radial artery. Alternative names for this arterial arch are: superficial volar arch, superficial ulnar arch, arcus palmaris superficialis, or arcus volaris superficialis.Again, ''palmar'' and ''volar'' may be used synonymously, but ''arcus volaris superficialis'' does not occur in the TA, and can therefore be considered deprecated. The arch passes across the

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

in a curve (Boeckel's line) with its convexity downward, With the

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

fully extended, the superficial palmar arch would lie approximately 1 cm from a line drawn between the first web space to the

hook of hamate The hamate bone (from Latin hamatus, "hooked"), or unciform bone (from Latin ''uncus'', "hook"), Latin os hamatum and occasionally abbreviated as just hamatum, is a bone in the human wrist readily distinguishable by its wedge shape and a hook-l ...

(Kaplan's cardinal line). The superficial palmar arch extends more distally than the

deep palmar arch The deep palmar arch (deep volar arch) is an arterial network found in the palm. It is usually primarily formed from the terminal part of the radial artery. The ulnar artery also contributes through an anastomosis. This is in contrast to the super ...

. The connection between the deep and superficial palmar arterial arches is an example of

anastomosis An anastomosis (, : anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal (su ...

, and can be tested for using

Allen's test In medicine, Allen's test or the Allen test is a medical sign used in physical examination of arterial blood flow to the hands. It was named for Edgar Van Nuys Allen, who described the original version of the test in 1942. An altered test, first ...

. Three

common palmar digital arteries Three common palmar digital arteries arise from the convexity of the superficial palmar arch and proceed distally on the second, third, and fourth lumbricales muscles. Alternative names for these arteries are: common volar digital arteries, uln ...

arise from the arch, proceeding down on the second, third, and fourth lumbrical muscles, respectively. They each receive a contribution from a

palmar metacarpal artery The palmar metacarpal arteries (volar metacarpal arteries, palmar interosseous arteries) are three or four arteries that arise from the convexity of the deep palmar arch. Structure The palmar metacarpal arteries arise from the convexity of the d ...

. Near the level of the

metacarpophalangeal joints The metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP) are situated between the metacarpal bones and the proximal phalanges of the fingers. These joints are of the condyloid kind, formed by the reception of the rounded heads of the metacarpal bones into shallow ...

, each common palmar digital artery divides into two

proper palmar digital arteries The proper palmar digital arteries travel along the sides of the phalanges (along the contiguous sides of the index, middle, ring, and little fingers), each artery lying just below (dorsal (anatomy), dorsal to) its corresponding Dorsal digital nerv ...

. Four digital branches arise from this palmar arch that supplies the medial/ulnar 3 1/2 fingers.

Additional images

File:Gray425.png, The palmar aponeurosis. File:Gray527.png, The radial and ulnar arteries. File:Slide15RRR.JPG, Superficial palmar arterial and venous arches File:Slide7AAAA.JPG, Superficial palmar arterial and venous arche File:Slide13AAAAA.JPG, Superficial palmar arterial and venous arche File:Slide9HHHH.JPG, Superficial palmar arterial and venous arche File:Slide9IIII.JPG, Superficial palmar arterial and venous arche File:Slide6OOOO.JPG, Superficial palmar arterial and venous arche File:Slide16OOOO.JPG, Superficial palmar arterial and venous arche

Footnotes and references

References

External links

* * - "Palm of the hand, superficial dissection, anterior view" Arteries of the upper limb {{circulatory-stub

See also

Additional images

Footnotes and references

References

External links