Sources and variations of the arteries supplying the cervical part of the spinal cord in white rat.

Investigations were performed in 36 rats of Wistar strain. In 50% of cases the accessory arteries originating from the vertebral artery and connections of the ventral spinal artery with the first radicular arteries were found. The dorsal spinal arteries always originated from the intracranial part of the vertebral artery, and in many instances their discontinuity at the level of C4--C6 was observed. Besides the spinal arteries the cervical part of the spinal cord is supplied by radicular arteries which are more frequent in rats than in human.