Anatomic variations of anterior cerebral artery cortical branches.

The anterior cerebral artery (ACA) is a major vessel responsible for the blood supply to the interhemispheric region. The ACA segment after the anterior communicating artery (AComA) origin is called the distal ACA and has central and cortical branches. The cortical branches are distributed in the different regions of the orbital and medial part of the brain. The objects of this study are the anatomical variations found in the distal ACA. In 76 hemispheres the ACA distal branches were injected with latex and dissected under microscope magnification. Vessel diameters and distances between vessel origins and anterior communicating artery were recorded and analyzed. Microsurgical dissection was carried out to demonstrate anatomic variations of these vessels. Average diameter of ACA at origin was 2.61 +/- 0.34 mm and average diameter of cortical branches diameter ranged from 0.79 +/- 0.27 mm to 1.84 +/- 0.3 mm. Distances between vessel origin and AComA ranged from 7.68 +/- 3.91 mm (orbitofrontal) to 112.6 +/- 11.63 mm (inferior internal parietal). This study found anatomical variations: a single (azygos) ACA was present in one case and three in three cases. Crossing branches of the distal ACA to the contralateral hemisphere were present in 26% of the cases. In some cases a single ACA may supply the posterior hemispheric region through crossing branches. This calls attention to potential bilateral brain infarcts due to a single unilateral ACA occlusion.