Blood Supply of the Brain and Spinal Cord

Blood Supply of the Brain and Spinal Cord

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

To review the main arteries and veins supplying the brain and spinal cord.

To learn the areas of the cerebral cortex and spinal cord supplied by a particular artery and to

A sixty-one-year-old woman collapsed in the supermarket and was in a coma when admitted to the emergency department of the local hospital. Twenty-four hours later, she recovered consciousness and was found to have paralysis on the left side of her body, mainly involving the lower limb. There was also some sensory loss of the left leg and foot. She was able to swallow normally and did not appear to have difficulty with her speech. The left-sided hemiplegia and hemianesthesia strongly suggested a cerebrovascular accident involving the right cerebral hemisphere. The limitation of the paralysis and anesthesia to the leg and foot indicated that the right anterior cerebral artery or one of its branches was blocked by a thrombus or embolus.

ARTERIES OF THE BRAIN

The brain is supplied by the two internal carotid and the two vertebral arteries. The four arteries lie within the subarachnoid space, and their branches anastomose on the inferior surface of the brain to form the circle of Willis.