Observation of blood flow characteristics of collateral circulation of ipsilateral ophthalmic artery in patients with internal carotid artery occlusion

Abstract

Objective To observe the characteristics of collateral circulation blood flow of ipsilateral ophthalmic artery in patients with internal carotid artery occlusion. Methods The imaging data of 20 patients with internal carotid artery occlusion were analyzed retrospectively. There were 11 males and 9 females, aged from 30 to 65 years, with an average age of (45±3) years. All the patients underwent digital subtraction angiography and transcranial Doppler examination, and 6 patients underwent simultaneous magnetic resonance angiography. The blood supply and collateral circulation of the ipsilateral ophthalmic artery were observed . Results All the patients had unilateral internal carotid artery occlusion. The blood supply of the ipsilateral internal carotid artery and ophthalmic artery comes from the collateral circulation between the middle meningeal artery branches of the external carotid artery and the ophthalmic artery in 18 patients (90.0%); it also comes from the anterior communicating artery of the contralateral internal carotid artery in 16 patients (80.0%); and the posterior communicating artery of the contralateral internal carotid artery in 12 patients (60.0%), respectively. Conclusion The blood flow of the ipsilateral ophthalmic artery mainly comes from the middle meningeal artery branch of the ipsilateral external carotid artery, also comes from the anterior and posterior communicating arteries of the contralateral internal carotid artery. Key words: Arterial occlusive diseases; Ophthalmic artery; Collateral circulation; Angiography, digital subtraction; Ultrasonography, Doppler, transcranial