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 supplies, and sometimes anastomoses with the terminal portion of the ulnar artery, completing the superficial palmar arch.
This vessel varies considerably in size: usually it is very small, and ends in the muscles of the thumb; sometimes it is as large as the continuation of the radial artery itself.
This article incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Famous quotes containing the words superficial and/or branch:
“Preoccupied with her self, the adolescent sees enormous changes, whereas the parent sees the child she knew all along. For the parent, new developments are superficial and evanescent. For the adolescent, they are thrilling and profound.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)