Vertebral artery


The vertebral arteries are major arteries of the neck. Typically, the vertebral arteries originate from the subclavian arteries. Each vessel courses superiorly along each side of the neck, merging within the skull to form the single, midline basilar artery. As the supplying component of the vertebrobasilar vascular system, the vertebral arteries supply blood to the upper spinal cord, brainstem, cerebellum, and posterior part of brain.

Structure

The vertebral arteries usually arise from the posterosuperior aspect of the central subclavian arteries on each side of the body, then enter deep to the transverse process at the level of the 6th cervical vertebrae, or occasionally at the level of C7. They then proceed superiorly, in the transverse foramen of each cervical vertebra. Once they have passed through the transverse foramen of C1, the vertebral arteries travel across the posterior arch of C1 and through the suboccipital triangle before entering the foramen magnum.
Nunziante Ippolito, a Neapolitan physician, identified the "angle of Nunziante Ippolito" to find the vertebral artery, between the anterior scalene muscle and the longus colli muscle.
Inside the skull, the two vertebral arteries join to form the basilar artery at the base of the pons. The basilar artery is the main blood supply to the brainstem and connects to the Circle of Willis to potentially supply the rest of the brain if there is compromise to one of the carotids. At each cervical level, the vertebral artery sends branches to the surrounding musculature via the anterior spinal arteries.
The vertebral artery may be divided into four parts:
There is commonly variations in the course and size of the vertebral arteries. For example, differences in size between left and right vertebral arteries may range from a slight asymmetry to marked hypoplasia of one side, with studies estimating a prevalence of unilateral vertebral artery hypoplasia between 2% to 25%. In 3-15% of the population, a bony bridge called the arcuate foramen covers the groove for the vertebral artery on vertebra C1. Rarely, the vertebral arteries enter the subarachnoid space at C1-C2 or C2-C3 vertebral levels instead of the atlanto-occipital level.

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