Triantafyllou George, Papadopoulos-Manolarakis Panagiotis, Tsakotos George, Piagkou Maria
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Nikaia-Piraeus, Athens, Greece.
J Craniofac Surg. 2025 May 23. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000011514.
Intracranial arterial fenestrations are infrequent variants of the cerebral arterial circle, which generally occur due to incomplete embryological fusion during vascular development. These fenestrations hold clinical significance because of their association with modified hemodynamics and the potential for aneurysm formation. The present imaging report highlights a unique double intracranial fenestration incidentally identified during magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of a 53-year-old female patient. The initial fenestration was identified in the basilar artery (BA) at the vertebrobasilar junction, measuring 9.22 mm in length and featuring symmetrical limbs, one of which branched off into an aberrant posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA). The second fenestration was identified in the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), originating 6.01 mm distal to the internal carotid artery, forming a 4.01 mm arterial ring that ended at the anterior communicating artery (AComA). The coexistence of 2 fenestrations in the same individual is infrequent, with limited documented cases. This case underscores the significance of comprehensive vascular imaging in detecting these morphological variants, which could affect cerebrovascular pathology and guide surgical planning.
颅内动脉窗是脑动脉环的罕见变异,通常是由于血管发育过程中胚胎融合不完全所致。这些动脉窗具有临床意义,因为它们与血流动力学改变以及动脉瘤形成的可能性有关。本影像学报告重点介绍了一名53岁女性患者在磁共振血管造影(MRA)检查时偶然发现的一种独特的颅内双动脉窗情况。最初在椎动脉基底动脉交界处的基底动脉(BA)发现动脉窗,长度为9.22毫米,有对称分支,其中一支分支为异常的小脑后下动脉(PICA)。第二个动脉窗在前脑动脉(ACA)中发现,起自颈内动脉远端6.01毫米处,形成一个4.01毫米的动脉环,止于前交通动脉(AComA)。同一个体中存在两个动脉窗的情况很少见,文献记载的病例有限。该病例强调了全面血管成像在检测这些形态变异中的重要性,这些变异可能影响脑血管病变并指导手术规划。