Anatomy

Anterior Circulation

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Anterior Circulation, Anterior Cerebral Circulation, Carotid Artery, Internal Carotid Artery, Middle Cerebral Artery, Anterior Cerebral Artery, Anterior Communicating Artery

  • See Also
  1. Neuroanatomy
  2. Vascular Anatomy of the Neurologic System
  3. Vascular Anatomy
  4. Great Vessels
  • Anatomy
  • Anterior Circulation
  1. Anterior Cerebral Circulation arises from the bilateral carotid arteries
    1. Right side
      1. Aortic root gives rise to the brachiocephalic artery
      2. Brachiocephalic artery branches into the right Carotid Artery and the subclavian artery
    2. Left side
      1. Aortic root directly gives rise to the left Carotid Artery
  2. Bilateral carotid arteries branch into the bilateral internal carotid arteries
    1. Carotid arteries branch into the Anterior Cerebral Artery and Middle Cerebral Artery
  3. Anterior Cerebral Artery
    1. Perfuses the entire midline of the Cerebral Hemisphere
    2. Correlates with lower extremity motor and sensory innervation
    3. Occlusion of the Anterior Cerebral Artery (e.g. Anterior Cerebral Artery CVA)
      1. Results in contralateral leg weakness or paralysis (Hemiparesis) and numbness
  4. Middle Cerebral Artery
    1. Perfuses the lateral Cerebral Hemispheres
    2. Correlates with upper extremity and facial motor and sensory innervation
    3. Occlusion of the Middle Cerebral Artery (Middle Cerebral Artery CVA)
      1. Results in contralateral arm and facial Hemiparesis and numbness
      2. Speech and language are also affected (Aphasia) by MCA Occlusion in dominant hemisphere (typically left)
  5. Circle of Willis
    1. Allows the Anterior Circulation of one hemisphere to communicate with the contralateral hemisphere circulation
    2. Also allows for communication with the Posterior Circulation for redundant perfusion
  • Anatomy
  • Images
  1. entNeckArteryCarotidExternalGrayBB511.gif Lewis (1918) Gray's Anatomy 20th ed (in public domain at Yahoo or BartleBy)
  2. entCarotidArteryGrayBB513.gif Lewis (1918) Gray's Anatomy 20th ed (in public domain at Yahoo or BartleBy)
  • References
  1. Gilman (1989) Manter and Gatz Essentials of Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology, Davis, p. 216-21
  2. Goldberg (2014) Clinical Neuroanatomy, Medmaster, p. 6-15
  3. Netter (1997) Atlas Human Anatomy, ICON Learning, p. 130-9