Magnetic Resonance Diagnosis of Anomalous Infraoptic Course of Anterior Cerebral Artery

Abstract

Variations of the anterior cerebral artery and anterior communicating artery complex are common. However, an infraoptic course of A1 segment of Anterior Cerebral Artery (ACA) is a rare anatomic variation, detection of which is critical due to its association with formation of aneurysms in the anterior circulation. The diagnosis is purely radiological and MRI, Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA), and Computed Tomography angiography (CT angiography) have emerged as the modalities of choice because of their ability to depict the intracranial vessels accurately. Both CT and MR angiography are preferred over catheter angiography because of their non-invasive nature. Time of flight MR angiography is an MR angiography technique which demonstrates intracranial vessels without administering gadolinium based MR contrast medium and is therefore safe for all age groups and all patient categories. Here, authors present the MR findings that lead to the radiological diagnosis of anomalous infraoptic anterior cerebral artery in a patient presenting with an episode of transient ischaemic attack.

Keywords

• anomalous vessel course
• magnetic resonance angiography
• time of flight angiography
• transient ischaemic attack