Morphology of the cutaneous vein in the dorsal foot and the ankle

The morphology of the cutaneous veins in the dorsal foot and the ankle was studied in 346 Korean adults (246 Males, 100 Females). The results were as follows. 1. The person who had the distinct cutaneous veins in the dorsal foot and the ankle were 179 males and 38 females. The cutaneous veins were more distinct in fat person than thin person in male. However this tendency was not observed in female. 2. The shape of the dorsal venous arch in the right and left foot was different in many cases (M : 65%, F : 78%). All dorsal venous arch were classified into the sharp (M : 59%, F : 51%) or the blunt (M : 41%, F : 49%) and also into the laterally shifted (49% in both sexes) or the medinlly shifted (M : 14%, F : 21%) and not shifted (M : 37%, F : 29%). Double dorsal venous arched parallel to each other in one foot were observed in rare cases (M : 8%, F : 1%). The length from the distal end of the dorsal venous arch to the tip of the foot was 89㎜ in male and 82㎜ in female, corresponding to 36% of the foot length in both sexes. 3. The extended line of the great saphenous vein was located on the 1st toe in all cases. As for the small saphenous vein, the extended line between the 4th and 5th toes (M : 63%, F : 74%) was more common than on the 4th toe (M : 27%, F : 24%). 4. In most cases, there were one great saphenous vein and one small saphenous vein in each foot (84-93%), rarely two or three. The great saphenous vein running anterior to (M : 87%, F : 75%) the medial malleolus was common, sometimes passing across (M : 7%, F : 18%) or posterior to (M : 5%, F : 7%) the medial malleolus. The small saphenous vein passed posterior to (M : 45%), anterior to (M : 36%) or across (M : 20%) the lateral malleolus.