Purpose:
To provide an interactive guide to anastomotic connections between the external
and internal carotid circulations
Introduction:
With the ever-increasing field of intracranial neurologic interventions,
the knowledge of potentially dangerous collateral pathways is essential for
decreasing the risk of iatrogenic hemorrhage and infarction.
Materials
& Methods: A
hyper-linked CD ROM based program is used to illustrate anastomotic connections
between the internal and external carotid circulations, display examples of
intracranial circulatory normal variants and describe angiographic techniques which
improve visualization of these anastomoses.
Conclusion:
Knowledge of cerebral circulatory anastomoses, normal variants and
angiographic techniques that improve visualization of anastomoses is critical
for planning neurologic interventional procedures.
1. Recognize the potential collateral pathways between the external and internal carotid arteries
2. Identify normal anatomy and normal variants in cerebral circulation
3. Understand angiographic techniques which facilitate the identification of collateral blood flow