Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece; School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.
Morphologie. 2023 Jun;107(357):169-175. doi: 10.1016/j.morpho.2022.07.001. Epub 2022 Jul 28.
The vertebral artery originates from the subclavian artery and is divided into four segments (V1-V4). In its intracranial segment (V4), the two vertebral arteries join to form the basilar artery, an unpaired medium-sized artery. However, apart from this typical description, several anatomical variations may occur in the human body. Although in some cases such variations may be asymptomatic, they may be also associated with several pathological conditions, neurological complications, surgical complications, and increased risk of developing vascular diseases. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain sufficient information on the anatomy and variants of both arteries to prevent such complications and ensure the safe completion of surgical and radiological treatments. For this reason, we reviewed studies published up to January 2022 concerning the reported variations of the vertebral artery and basilar artery regarding their origin, course, length, and diameter. We believe that the thorough presentation of these variations would help surgeons worldwide during their daily clinical and surgical practice.
椎动脉发自锁骨下动脉，分为四段（V1-V4）。在颅内段（V4），两条椎动脉汇合成基底动脉，这是一条不成对的中等大小动脉。然而，除了这种典型的描述外，人体中可能还会发生几种解剖变异。尽管在某些情况下，这些变异可能无症状，但它们也可能与几种病理状况、神经并发症、手术并发症以及发生血管疾病的风险增加有关。因此，获得有关这两条动脉的解剖结构和变异的充分信息至关重要，以防止这些并发症，并确保安全完成手术和放射治疗。为此，我们回顾了截至 2022 年 1 月发表的关于椎动脉和基底动脉起源、走行、长度和直径的报告变异的研究。我们相信，这些变异的全面介绍将有助于全球外科医生在日常临床和手术实践中。
