Blood vessel size of circulus arteriosus cerebri (circle of Willis): a statistical research on 100 human subjects.

ABSTRACT

The brain weight of 100 fresh cadavers of Italian subjects (60 males and 40 females), aged between 17 and 84 years, was obtained and the corrected circumference of the following blood vessels was measured basilar artery, internal carotid arteries, anterior and posterior cerebral arteries, and anterior and posterior communicating arteries. The cerebral 'potential flow' was expressed in each case by adding the circumference of the basilar artery to that of the internal carotid arteries. Moreover, the sides and the perimeter of the circle of Willis as well as the length of the basilar artery were calculated. The statistical analysis of the obtained data yielded the following main results: (1) the brain weight decreases with aging, is lower in females than in males and and is statistically correlated neither with the circumferences of the considered arteries and the 'potential flow' nor with the perimeter of the arterial polygon (circle of Willis); (2) the arteries of the left side appear to be larger than those of the right one; (3) no significant difference exists in the circumference and length of the arteries between males and females; (4) the increase of the perimeter of the arterial polygon is achieved by means of a harmonious increase of all its sides; (5) the anterior and posterior communicating arteries have an anarchic pattern, because of the relatively frequent anomalies and the lack of a correlation between their circumference and that of the vessel of origin or of outlet.