There are quite a few arterial variations in the upper extremity. There was an
article by Jeff Kaufman in JVT 20:225-230, 1996 which discussed brachial and
forearm variability. In addition, Gray's Anatomy also discusses some variants.

As far as protocols, check out JVT volume 22, number 1 from this year. There is
an article by Jennifer Winkler that describes their radial artery assessment.
In the next issue of JVT, we'll have our article about radial assessments. This
article summarizes our first couple of year's experience with this. Basically,
it took a lot of interaction with the cardiothoracic surgeons to figure out
exactly what they wanted. If you want any more info please feel free to contact
me directly at 518-262-5050. Good Luck

Ann Marie Kupinski
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: ICD9 code for Allen's test
Author: UVM Flownet <[log in to unmask]> at Internet-Mail
Date: 12/21/98 8:36 PM


To those of you who do radial artery exams for harvest frequently, would
you be willing to share your scan protocol and wisdom?

 I was recently performing an exam on a patient for radial artery harvest.
The physician had ordered an ue sap and allens test which were normal. This
was the first request I had received for this purpose, so I didn't have a
protocol to follow. Something (maybe a guardian angel!?) made me go ahead
and perform a duplex exam even though the indirect was normal. The patient
had a single artery through the forearm which bifurcated to a radial and
ulnar approx. 4-5 cm proximal to the wrist. Is this a common anomaly? I
have never seen it before.

Krista Smith, RDMS, RVT