Meningeal Vessels of the Internal Carotid Artery and Their Angiographic Significance

Abstract

The intracranial dura mater is supplied mainly by the middle meningeal artery, a branch of the external carotid artery which enters the cranial cavity through the foramen spinosum. Other more or less constant branches of the external carotid artery augment the supply. These small vessels arise from the superficial temporal artery, the occipital artery, the ascending pharyngeal artery and from other branches of the external carotid artery and enter the intracranial cavity through the foramina in the base of the skull, through the parietal and condyloid foramina and directly through the calvarium via other small channels. Further small and more constant supply vessels are the accessory meningeal artery, a branch of the maxillary artery, which enters the cranial cavity through the foramen ovale and the posterior meningeal artery which arises from the ascending pharyngeal artery and enters the cranial cavity through the jugular foramen. These supply small areas of the dura near the site of entry and freely anastomose with branches of the middle meningeal artery and other meningeal vessels. Familiarity with these small meningeal arteries is important because an intracranial tumour supplied by the external carotid artery is almost certainly a meningioma. The best method Based on a paper read at the Meeting of the Swedish Society for Medical Radiology in 1959. Submitted for publication 31 October 1960.