UNUSUAL ARTERIAL ANASTOMOSES ON THE ANTERIOR SIDE OF THE MEDULLA OBLONGATA: A CASE REPORT

The cerebral arterial circle is a constant carotid-basilar anastomosis on the brain base. However, some transitory primitive intercarotid or carotid-vertebral or carotid-basilar or lateral basilo-vertebral anastomoses can persist and change the common angioarchitecture of the brain. One of these transitory persistent anastomoses was found in a 72-year-old male, autopsied at the Institute for Forensic Medicine of Nis, after  a fatal cranial fracture.  We discovered persistent lateral basilovertebral anastomosis that originated from the right side of the basilar artery, immediately below the beginning of the right anterior inferior cerebellar artery, which was connected with the left anterior spinal artery (ASA). In addition, there were two transversal anastomoses between both vertebral arteries. Although the discovered arterial anastomoses on the ventral side of the medulla oblongata persisted in the human adult, pathologic changes of this artery and other cerebral arteries were not found.  The rarity of these vascular variants in the vertebrobasilar system deserves a description in this article and future scientific attention. Key words: Human brain, lateral basilo-vertebral anastomosis, anterior spinal artery, intervertebral anastomoses

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