Normal Anatomy and Variants of the Anterior Cerebral and Anterior Communicating Arteries

Abstract

The anterior cerebral artery(ACA)and anterior communicating artery(AcomA), two important arteries of the cerebral hemisphere, are involved in various disorders, including aneurysms, steno-occlusive diseases, and arteriovenous shunts, among other such conditions. Additionally, these vessels contain normal variants associated with their embryology and development. The ACA particularly shows characteristic variants such as a persistent primitive olfactory artery and an infraoptic course, among other such variations, which is attributable to the fact that it is embryologically older than the middle and posterior cerebral arteries. Aneurysm formation is associated with these variants. Therefore, knowledge of the normal anatomy and variants is important for diagnosis and treatment of conditions involving these arteries. In this article, we describe the normal anatomy and variants of the ACA and AcomA, focused on their embryological development.