Microanatomy of the subependymal arteries of the lateral ventricle

• Published in: Surgical neurology 2005-05, Vol.63 (5), p.451-458
• Main Authors: Marinković, Slobodan, Gibo, Hirohiko, Filipović, Branislav, Đulejić, Vuk, Piščević, Ivan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Anterior choroidal artery; Brain - blood supply; Brain - physiology; Caudate artery; Caudate Nucleus - blood supply; Cerebral Arteries - anatomy & histology; Cerebral Arteries - physiology; Cerebral artery; Choroid plexus; Circle of Willis - anatomy & histology; Circle of Willis - physiology; Ependyma - blood supply; Ependyma - physiology; Humans; Lateral posterior choroidal artery; Lateral ventricle; Lateral Ventricles - blood supply; Lateral Ventricles - physiology; Microcirculation - anatomy & histology; Microcirculation - physiology; Middle Aged; Periventricular region; Subependymal artery; Thalamic artery
• ISSN: 0090-3019; 1879-3339
• DOI: 10.1016/j.surneu.2004.06.013

Scarce information about the anatomy of the subependymal arteries (SEAs) is present in the scientific literature. Twenty cerebral hemispheres with injected arteries were microdissected, and the magnetic resonance imaging scans of 100 patients with lacunar infarcts were examined. The SEAs were found to range in diameter from 40 to 490 μm (mean, 149 μm) and in number between 3 and 12 (average, 5.2). Of these, numbers from 1 to 3 originated from the anterior choroidal artery (AChA), between 1 and 10 from the lateral posterior choroidal artery (LPChA), 1 from the medial posterior choroidal artery (MPChA), and 1 from the internal carotid artery. The SEAs most often arose from the choroidal branches (90%) and less frequently from the thalamic (30%), caudate (35%), or thalamocaudate twigs (20%). The SEAs of the AChA supplied the walls of the temporal horn (100%), the occipital horn (85%), and the atrium (35%). Those of the LPChA perfused the walls of the occipital horn (15%), the atrium (65%), the body of the ventricle (100%), and partially the frontal horn. The SEAs of the MPChA partially nourished the body and the frontal horn (10%). The SEAs may also occasionally supply the caudate nucleus (20%) and the stria terminalis. The anastomoses involving the SEAs were absent. In spite of this, ischemia in the territory of a single SEA was noticed in only 1% of our patients. The SEAs are tiny vessels that supply the walls of the lateral ventricle, as well as the caudate nucleus and the stria terminalis occasionally. The obtained anatomic data can have important neurosurgical implications in intraventricular operations.