Anatomical arrangement and distributionof the cerebral arterial circle in rats

ABSTRACT

The cerebral arterial circle is a polygonal shape-like arterial anastomosis placed in the brain base, whereit rounds the optic quiasm and the tuber cinereum, and also related to the interpeduncular fossa and theanterior perfurated substance. It is formed by the proximal parts of the anterior, middle and posterior cerebralarteries, and the right and left posterior communicating arteries. In order to describe the cerebral arterial circledisposition we investigated the brains of twenty rats. For each animal, the heart left ventricle was probed andacetone, distilled water at 37 °C and a solution of Neoprene Latex “450” stained with a specific red pigmentwere injected in sequence into it. To fix the brain in a better way, we isolated the head and made an apertureat the dorsal wall of the cranium and the whole specimen was fixed in a 15% formaldehyde solution. We tookoff the brain from the skull with the aid of a cold light source monocular magnifier. To take the photographicdata we used a semi-professional camera. The results showed that the cerebral arterial circle in rats is formedby branches of both internal carotid arteries and of the basilar artery, and is closed rostrally by the rostralcommunicating artery, and caudally by the right and left terminal branches of the basilar artery. We concludedfrom our data that the cerebral arterial circle in rats is compound by branches of both internal carotid arteriesand basilar artery, and that it is rostrally and caudally closed.