An axillary arch muscle – a case report

The numbers of accessory muscle slips in the axilla have been reported by different authors. During routine dissection for undergraduate medical students at Department of Anatomy, in an 80-year-old female cadaver, we came across a variant muscular slip, which arose from anterior aspect of latissimus dorsi muscle of left side and was inserted in the proximal part of coracobrachialis muscle. This variant slip of latissimus dorsi muscle is an “axillary arch muscle”. The axillary artery proximal to the arch muscle showed variable course. The compression of neurovascular bundle of axilla by an axillary arch muscle is documented in literature. Presence of an axillary arch muscle has immense clinical and morphological significance.