Figure 1.

Anatomy of the axillary artery. The axillary artery (red) begins at the lateral border of the first rib, runs posterior to the pectoralis minor muscle (pm), anterior to the teres minor muscle (tm) and becomes the brachial artery at the inferior border of tm. It is divided in three segments. The first segment (A) is located between the lateral border of the first rib and the medial border of pm; the second segment (B) is behind pm; the third segment (C) lies between the lateral border of pm and the inferior border of tm. Ideal puncture site for transaxillary TAVI is the first vessel segment. TAVI, transcatheter aortic valve implantation.