The vascularization of the pineal gland (epiphysis cerebri) of the rat.

The vascularization of the rat pineal gland was investigated with, respectively, latex and resin injection preparations of the cephalic blood vessels in adult Wistar rats. From the dissection of the latex-injected and aldehyde-fixed rat brains under the stereo light microscope it was found that the arterial supply comes exclusively from separate branches of the posterior cerebral artery. The pineal area was dissected out from the resin injected and corroded specimens under the stereo light microscope and was inspected in the SEM. The supplying arteries, identified on the basis of their endothelial cell imprint patterns, were 4 to 6 in number with a diameter of 20 to 40 micron. The venous drainage consisted of 12 to 16 short veins with a diameter of 40 to 60 micron, all draining directly into the great cerebral vein and thereafter via the sinus influens immediately into the systemic venous circulation.