Morphometry of medial gaps of human brain artery branches

The bifurcation regions of the major human cerebral arteries are vulnerable to the formation of saccular aneurysms. A consistent feature of these bifurcations is a discontinuity of the tunica media at the apex of the flow divider. The objective was to measure the 3-dimensional geometry of these medi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Stroke (1970) 2004-05, Vol.35 (5), p.1153-1157
Main Authors: CANHAM, Peter B, FINLAY, Helen M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - blood supply
Cerebral Arteries - anatomy & histology
Circle of Willis - anatomy & histology
Endothelium, Vascular - anatomy & histology
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Models, Anatomic
Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - anatomy & histology
Neurology
Tunica Media - anatomy & histology
Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system
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Summary:The bifurcation regions of the major human cerebral arteries are vulnerable to the formation of saccular aneurysms. A consistent feature of these bifurcations is a discontinuity of the tunica media at the apex of the flow divider. The objective was to measure the 3-dimensional geometry of these medial gaps or "medial defects." Nineteen bifurcations and 2 junctions of human cerebral arteries branches (from 4 male and 2 female subjects) were formalin-fixed at physiological pressure and processed for longitudinal serial sectioning. The apex and adjacent regions were examined and measurements were made from high-magnification photomicrographs, or projection microscope images, of the gap dimensions at multiple levels through the bifurcation. Plots were made of the width of the media as a function of distance from the apex. The media at each edge of the medial gap widened over a short distance, reaching the full width of the media of the contiguous daughter vessel. Medial gap dimensions were compared with the planar angle of the bifurcation, and a strong negative correlation was found, ie, the acute angled branches have the more prominent medial gaps. A discontinuity of the media at the apex was seen in all the bifurcations examined and was also found in the junction regions of brain arteries. We determined that the gap width is continuous with well-defined dimensions throughout its length and average length-to-width ratio of 6.9. The gaps were generally centered on the prominence of the apical ridge.
ISSN:0039-2499
1524-4628
DOI:10.1161/01.STR.0000124926.76836.df