Abstract: Objective     To provide the anatomic basis for the clinical treatment of advanced Kienb?ck disease by transposition of the capitate bone through observing the morphology of the capitate bone and blood supply pattern and exploring the mechanism of avascular necrosis of the capitate bone.  Methods 　Twelve fresh wrist joint specimens were selected, gelatin-lead oxide solution was perfused from the ulnar artery or radial artery. After scanned by Micro-CT, the image was reconstructed by Mimics software to observe the morphology of the capitate bone and the main blood supply source. The length, width, thickness of the capitate bone and lunate bone and diameter, arc length, arc height of the proximal joint surface were measured. The number and distribution of the capitate bone nourished blood vessels were recorded, and the relevant data were statistically analyzed. 　Results　(1) There were 9 cases of F-shaped capitate bone (accounting for 75%), and 3 cases of S-shaped (accounting for 25%); (2) Blood supply of capitate bone originated from the volar surface and the dorsal surface, with the dorsal surface mainly; (3) Compared the length, width, thickness, the diameter, arc length and arc height of the capitate bone and the lunate bone, there were  significant correlation among them; (4) The nourishing vessels of the capitate bone were distributed at 2.2mm from the base, the number of nourishing vascular foramina on the distal pole was more than that of the proximal pole, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).　Conclusions　The proximal capitate bone is mainly dominated by the distal retrograde blood supply, which is the main cause of avascular necrosis in the capitate bone. It is feasible to treat  the advanced Kienb?ck disease by transposition of the capitate bone.

Key words:  Capitate bone, 　Vascular perfusion, 　Avascular necrosis; ,  , Anatomy