basilar artery
Schematic
representation of the circle of Willis, arteries of the brain and brain stem. Feel free to improve (edit) this representation!
Cerebral
angiography, injection in the left vertebral artery, with retrograde flow in the contralateral vertebral artery, the basilar artery and the posterior communicating artery. The posterior cerebral circulation can be seen, including the posterior part of the Circle of Willis.
The basilar artery is part of the posterior cerebral circulation. It arises from the confluence of the left and right vertebral arteries at the base of the pons as they rise towards the base of the brain.
Summary
- origin: vertebral artery confluence
- course: ventral to pons in the pontine cistern
- branches: numerous to cerebellum and pons
- termination: division into the two posterior cerebral arteries
- variants: basilar artery fenestration; persistent carotid-basilar artery anastomoses
Gross anatomy
Course
The basilar artery runs cranially in the central groove of the pons towards the midbrain within the pontine cistern. It travels within this groove from the lower pontine border adjacent to the exit of the abducens nerve to the upper pontine border and the appearance of the oculomotor nerve. It bifurcates at the upper pontine border.
Branches
Before terminating at the upper pontine border where it divides into the two posterior cerebral arteries, it provides several paired branches:
- anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA)
- labyrinthine artery (variable origin; more commonly a branch of AICA)
- pontine arteries
- superior cerebellar artery (SCA)
Variant anatomy
Related pathology
Siehe auch:
- Cerebellum
- Pons
- Arteria vertebralis
- posterior cerebral circulation
- Mesencephalon
- labyrinthine artery
- top of the basilar syndrome
- Basilaristhrombose
- Arteria cerebri posterior
- pontine arteries
- pontine cistern
- Circulus Willisi
- persistierende karotidobasiläre Anastomosen
- anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA)
- superior cerebellar artery (SCA)
- fenestrierte Arteria basilaris
und weiter:
- anterior inferior cerebellar artery
- superior cerebellar artery
- persistent hypoglossal artery
- dolichoectasia
- persistent otic artery
- cerebral vascular territories
- internal acoustic meatus
- intracranial arterial calcification
- Arteria trigemina
- fetal PCOM
- longitudinale Neuralarterie
- foetal posterior comminucating artery
