Vascular Anatomy of Anterior Communicating Artery Complex for Microsurgery

Abstract

  The anterior communicating artery has many vascular variations. Multiple or fenestrated anterior communicating arteries are frequently seen. The anterior communicating artery gives rise to three branching arteries. The chiasmatic artery terminates in the superior surface of the optic chiasma. The second branching artery feeds the suprachiasmatic region of the hypothalamus. The third branching artery is the largest and is the subcallosal artery. This artery runs in front of the lamina terminalis and then turns rostrally and dorsally. This artery has no cortical branches and plays an important role in blood supply to the fornix. Injuries to the subcallosal artery can result in severe cognitive and memory dysfunction due to infarction of the associated basal forebrain.