MRA study of anatomical variations of circulus arteriosus cerebri in healthy adults of Kosova

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the study is to research the distribution of variations of circulus arteriosus cerebri (CAC) and determined diameters of arteries on healthy adults of Kosovo's population. Methods: This observational descriptive study was conducted on 513 healthy participants who underwent 3D time-of-flight MR angiogram (3D-TOF MRA). Were measured diameters of arteries forming the CAC and the correlation of diameters between to age and sex. Also, the anatomical variants of the anterior and posterior components of the CAC were studied. Results: In the present study the typical variant of CAC was visible in a small number of patients, in 23.4% of cases and was slightly higher in females (25.1%) and young than males (21.2%) and older subjects. The complete anterior CAC is common with 77.7% of the all subjects, while the posterior part had a complete structure in 27.6% of the cases. The diameter of ICA is bigger on younger (p < 0.05), while the diameter of PCoA and PCA-P1 on older (p < 0.01). All diameters of the arteries are larger in male than female, except the diameter of PCoA that is larger in female (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Knowing the structure of CAC has a great importance in determination of anatomical variations and diameter in general Kosovo's populations. Keywords: Circulus arteriosus cerebri, CAC, Anatomic variations, Diameter of arteries, 3D-TOF-MRA, The circle of Willis