Krasnow Inst. for Advanced Study, George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA, USA.
Neuroimage. 2013 Nov 15;82:170-81. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.05.089. Epub 2013 May 28.
Characterization of the complex branching architecture of cerebral arteries across a representative sample of the human population is important for diagnosing, analyzing, and predicting pathological states. Brain arterial vasculature can be visualized by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). However, most MRA studies are limited to qualitative assessments, partial morphometric analyses, individual (or small numbers of) subjects, proprietary datasets, or combinations of the above limitations. Neuroinformatics tools, developed for neuronal arbor analysis, were used to quantify vascular morphology from 3T time-of-flight MRA high-resolution (620 μm isotropic) images collected in 61 healthy volunteers (36/25 F/M, average age=31.2 ± 10.7, range=19-64 years). We present in-depth morphometric analyses of the global and local anatomical features of these arbors. The overall structure and size of the vasculature did not significantly differ across genders, ages, or hemispheres. The total length of the three major arterial trees stemming from the circle of Willis (from smallest to largest: the posterior, anterior, and middle cerebral arteries; or PCAs, ACAs, and MCAs, respectively) followed an approximate 1:2:4 proportion. Arterial size co-varied across individuals: subjects with one artery longer than average tended to have all other arteries also longer than average. There was no net right-left difference across the population in any of the individual arteries, but ACAs were more lateralized than MCAs. MCAs, ACAs, and PCAs had similar branch-level properties such as bifurcation angles. Throughout the arterial vasculature, there were considerable differences between branch types: bifurcating branches were significantly shorter and straighter than terminating branches. Furthermore, the length and meandering of bifurcating branches increased with age and with path distance from the circle of Willis. All reconstructions are freely distributed through a public database to enable additional analyses and modeling (cng.gmu.edu/brava).
对人类代表性样本的脑动脉复杂分支结构进行特征描述，对于诊断、分析和预测病理性状态非常重要。磁共振血管造影术（MRA）可以用于可视化脑动脉血管。然而，大多数 MRA 研究仅限于定性评估、部分形态计量分析、个体（或少量）受试者、专有数据集或上述限制的组合。神经信息学工具是为神经元树突分析而开发的，用于从 61 名健康志愿者（36/25 名 F/M，平均年龄=31.2±10.7，年龄范围 19-64 岁）的 3T 时间飞跃 MRA 高分辨率（620μm 各向同性）图像中量化血管形态。我们对这些树突的全局和局部解剖特征进行了深入的形态计量分析。血管的整体结构和大小在性别、年龄或半球之间没有显著差异。起源于 Willis 环的三支主要动脉树（从最小到最大：后交通动脉、前交通动脉和大脑中动脉；分别为 PCAs、ACAs 和 MCAs）的总长度遵循约 1:2:4 的比例。动脉大小在个体间存在共变：某条动脉长度超过平均值的个体，其他动脉也往往更长。在任何个体的单个动脉中，人群中都没有净左右差异，但 ACA 比 MCA 更偏侧化。MCA、ACA 和 PCA 在分支水平上具有相似的特性，如分叉角度。在整个动脉血管中，分支类型之间存在显著差异：分支比终止分支更短、更直。此外，分支的长度和弯曲程度随着年龄和从 Willis 环的路径距离的增加而增加。所有重建都通过公共数据库免费分发，以支持进一步的分析和建模（cng.gmu.edu/brava）。
