Blood vessels of the brain

The brain is supplied with blood by branches of the internal carotid and vertebral arteries. Each internal carotid artery gives off the anterior and middle cerebral arteries, the anterior villous artery, and the posterior communicating artery. The anterior cerebral artery is located on the medial surface of each cerebral hemisphere, in the groove of the corpus callosum, encircling it from the front and from above (from front to back). The branches of this artery supply blood to the medial part of the cerebral hemisphere up to the parieto-occipital groove. In its initial section, this artery connects with a nearby similar artery via the anterior communicating artery.

Branches of the middle cerebral artery, located in the lateral sulcus, supply blood to the inferior and middle frontal gyri, most of the parietal lobe, superior and middle temporal gyri, and the insular lobe.

The anterior villous artery, branching, forms the vascular plexus of the lateral and third ventricles. The posterior communicating artery anastomoses with the posterior cerebral and internal carotid arteries. This anastomosis sometimes connects the posterior cerebral artery not with the internal carotid, but with the middle cerebral artery.

The right and left vertebral arteries join at the posterior edge of the pons to form an unpaired basilar (main) artery, which divides into the posterior cerebral arteries and also gives off the superior cerebellar arteries, the anterior inferior cerebellar arteries, the artery of the labyrinthine (a branch of the internal auditory canal), the arteries of the pons, and the middle cerebral arteries. Branches of the vertebral artery, the posterior inferior cerebellar arteries, also go to the cerebellum. The posterior cerebral artery encircles the cerebral peduncle on each side and branches into the occipital and temporal lobes (except for the superior and middle convolutions) of the cerebral hemispheres.

At the base of the brain is the cerebral arterial circle, in the formation of which the anterior and posterior cerebral arteries and the anterior and posterior communicating arteries participate.

Branches of the cerebral arteries supply the cerebral cortex and deep parts of the brain. There are numerous anastomoses between the arterial branches inside the brain.

The veins of the brain flow into the sinuses of the dura mater of the brain. There are superficial and deep cerebral veins. The superficial veins include the superior and inferior cerebral veins, the superficial middle vein, etc. They collect blood from a large part of the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres.

The group of superficial superior cerebral (ascending) veins includes the veins located in the precentral and postcentral sulci, as well as the prefrontal, frontal, parietal and occipital veins. Rising upward along the superolateral surface of the cerebral hemisphere to its upper edge, these veins flow into the superior sagittal sinus of the dura mater of the brain. The tributaries of the superficial middle cerebral vein, lying in the lateral sulcus, are the veins of the adjacent areas of the frontal, parietal, temporal and insular lobes of the cerebral hemisphere. The superficial middle cerebral vein flows into the superior petrosal or cavernous sinus of the dura mater of the brain. The group of superficial inferior cerebral (descending) veins unites the anterior and posterior temporal and inferior occipital veins. They all flow into the transverse or superior petrosal sinus.

The veins of the medial surface of the cerebral hemispheres flow into the superior sagittal sinus and into the basal vein, which belongs to the system of deep cerebral veins. The basal vein, which is a tributary of the great cerebral vein (vein of Galen), receives small veins of the anterior and posterior parts of the cingulate gyrus and the veins of the cuneus.

A characteristic feature of the superficial cerebral veins is the presence of a large number of anastomoses. The most well-developed are the inferior and superior anastomotic veins. The first of them connects the veins of the central sulcus and the middle superficial cerebral vein with the superior sagittal sinus, the second - the middle superficial cerebral vein with the transverse sinus.

Through the deep veins, blood from the vascular plexuses of the lateral and third ventricles of the brain and from most of the subcortical structures (nuclei and white matter), as well as the hippocampus and transparent septum, flows into the internal veins of the brain. The right and left internal cerebral veins behind the pineal body merge with each other, forming a great cerebral vein, which flows into the anterior end of the straight sinus. The veins of the corpus callosum, basal veins, internal occipital veins and the superior median vein of the cerebellum also flow into the great cerebral vein.

The veins of the cerebellum are extremely variable, their number fluctuating from 6 to 22. The veins of the superior and inferior surfaces of the cerebellum, the lateral surfaces of the cerebral peduncles, the roof of the midbrain and the pons unite into the veins of the floccus, which flow into the superior petrosal sinus.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ]