Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy (2021) 43:619–630 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02605-5 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Anatomy of the axillary arch: from its incidence in human to an embryologic and a phylogenetic explanation of its origins Martin Lhuaire 1,2,3  · Karl Wehbe 4  · Ignacio Garrido 1  · Vincent Hunsinger 1  · Mohamed Derder 1  · Vincent Balaya 5  · Vincent Delmas 2  · Peter Abrahams 6  · Daniele Sommacale 3  · Reza Kianmanesh 3  · Christian Fontaine 7  · Laurent Lantieri 1 Received: 17 August 2020 / Accepted: 16 October 2020 / Published online: 2 November 2020 © Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Introduction Typically, the axillary arch is defned as a feshy slip running from latissimus dorsi to the anterior aspect of the humerus. Phylogeny seems to give the most relevant and plausible explanation of this anatomical variant as a remnant of the panniculus carnosus. However, authors are not unanimous about its origin. We report herein the incidence of axillary arch in a series of 40 human female dissections and present an embryologic and a comparative study in three domestic mammals. Materials and methods Forty formalin-preserved Caucasian human female cadavers, one rat (Rattus norvegicus), one rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and one pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) cadavers were dissected bilaterally. A comparative, analytical and a descriptive studies of serial human embryological sections were carried out. Results We found an incidence of axillary arch of 2.5% (n = 1 subject of 40) in Humans. We found a panniculus carnosus inserted on the anterior aspect of the humerus only in the rat and the rabbit but not in the pig. The development of the latis- simus dorsi takes place between Carnegie stage 16–23, but the embryological study failed to explain the genesis of the axillary arch variation. However, comparative anatomy argues in favour of a panniculus carnosus origin of the axillary arch. Conclusions With an incidence of 2.5% of cases, the axillary arch is a relatively frequent variant that should be known by clinician and especially surgeons. Moreover, while embryology seems to fail to explain the genesis of this variation, com- parative study gives additional arguments which suggest a possible origin from the panniculus carnosus. Keywords Comparative anatomy · Axillary arch · Rabbit · Pig · Rat * Martin Lhuaire martin.lhuaire@etu.parisdescartes.fr 1 Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, Université de Paris, 20 rue Leblanc, 75908 Paris Cedex 15, France 2 Institute of Anatomy, URDIA, EA4465, UFR Biomédicale des Saints-Pères, Université de Paris, Paris, France 3 Department of General and Digestive Surgery, Hôpital Robert Debré, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France 4 Department of Gynecology and Oncology Surgery, Institut Jean Godinot, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France 5 Department of Gynecologic and Breast Oncologic Surgery, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, Université de Paris, Paris, France 6 Institute of Anatomy and Clinical Education, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK 7 Faculté de Médecine Henri Warembourg, Institute of Anatomy and Organogenesis, Université de Lille, Lille, France