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