Co-existence of superficial ulnar artery and aneurysm of the deep palmar arch in the hand

During routine anatomy dissection classes for undergraduate medical students, an unilateral case of superficial ulnar artery (SUA) in a 75-year-old male human cadaver arosing from the third part of the right axillary artery at the junction of the two median nerve roots was observed. In the hand, the SUA coursed over the flexor retinaculum and anastomosed with the superficial palmar branch of the radial artery to form the superficial palmar arch. After the origin of the SUA, the axillary artery continued as the brachial artery, which was divided into radial and common interosseous arteries at the neck of the radius. The normal ulnar artery was absent. In the same cadaver, a thin walled dilatation was seen on its palmar aspect at the base of the 1st metacarpal bone.