MRA study on variation of the circle of willis in healthy Chinese male adults.

Chuanya Qiu,Caixia Xue,Shanshan Jiang,Wei Zhang,Yong Zhang

doi:10.1155/2015/976340

Chuanya Qiu, Caixia Xue + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/976340

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Abstract

Aim. To investigate the morphology and variation of the circle of Willis (COW) in healthy Chinese male adults. Materials and Methods. We analyzed cerebral magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) images of 2,246 healthy subjects using typical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRA. 3D-time of flight (TOF) MRA method was applied to all subjects and the classification was therefore achieved according to the integrity level of COW and the developmental situation of vessels. Results. The overall incidence of COW integrity was 12.24%, with 7.57% nonvariation integral COW. The incidences of partial integrity and nonintegrity were 70.17% and 17.59%, respectively. The integrity rate of anterior circulation was 78.58%, with a close correlation with A1 segment of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA-A1) developmental condition. The developmental variation rate of ACA-A1 was 28.23% and the variation of the right side was higher than that of the left side. The nonintegrity rate of posterior circulation was 83.93% as the hypoplasia of P1 segment of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA-P1) with an incidence rate of 15.85% for PCA-P1 variation. Conclusions. The COW variation is a common phenomenon among the healthy subjects. MRA could enable reflecting the physiological morphology of COW in a comprehensive manner.

Highlights

The circle of Willis (COW) is an important intracranial collateral circulation system
The morphology of COW shown by all images was analyzed and evaluated according to the existence and developmental state of blood vessels by two experienced neurological radiologists, who engaged in diagnostic neurological radiology for ten years
Out of those 275 cases, 105 cases were evident with developmental variation; the other 170 cases were of normal, developmental, and integral COW structure. 1576 cases were observed with partial integral, in which there were 1489 cases with integral anterior circle and nonintegral posterior circle

Summary

Introduction

The circle of Willis (COW) is an important intracranial collateral circulation system. In patients with cerebrovascular diseases, COW can maintain adequate blood flow and decrease damage of lesion areas through its potential blood redistribution function [1,2,3]. This compensation depends on the anatomical morphology of COW [4, 5]. By conducting a retrospective analysis on MRA images of the morphology and variation of COW from large population of healthy subjects (e.g., 2246 subjects in the present study) with normal cerebral MRI, it may confirm the distribution of COW variation types, which will provide anatomical basis for future prognosis and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases

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Results

Conclusion