An Anatomical Variant of Bilateral Persistent Median Artery and Bifid Median Nerve: A Cadaveric Case Report

An 89-year-old Caucasian male cadaver with prostate cancer demonstrated bilateral persistence of the median artery and bifid median nerve (BMN) during upper limb dissection. The persistent median artery (PMA) originated from the common interosseous artery and coursed alongside the median nerve. Proximal to the carpal tunnel, the median nerve bifurcated into medial and lateral branches. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of a bilateral PMA and BMN. While the majority of existing literature focuses on a unilateral PMA or unilateral BMN, bilateral occurrences of either variation are rare. This report presents a novel finding by documenting the simultaneous presence of a bilateral PMA and BMN.