Cerebral Blood Supply

Question 1

What are the two sources of arterial blood supply to the brain?
What do they supply?

Answer 1

• anterior circulation via internal carotid arteries: supplies most of cerebral hemispheres
• posterior circulation via vertebral arteries: supplies brainstem, cerebellum, some of temporal + occipital lobe

Question 2

What arteries branch off the vertebral arteries?

Answer 2

Posterior inferior cerebellar arteries
Anterior spinal artery

Question 3

What arteries branch off the basilar artery

Answer 3

• Anterior inferior cerebellar arteries
• Pontine arteries
• Superior cerebellar arteries
• Bifurcates into posterior cerebral arteries

Question 4

What are the middle cerebral arteries a continuation of?

Answer 4

Internal carotid arteries

Question 5

What is the blood supply to the spinal cord?
What do they branch from?

Answer 5

Anterior spinal artery
Posterior spinal arteries
Vertebral arteries

Question 6

What does the anterior spinal artery supply?

Answer 6

Anterior 2/3 of spinal cord
- ventral horns
- corticospinal tracts
- spinothalamic tract

Question 7

What do the posterior spinal arteries supply?

Answer 7

Posterior 1/3 of spinal cord
- dorsal column
- dorsal horns

Question 8

Why would a blockage in the anterior spinal artery cause a bilateral loss but a blockage in a posterior spinal artery would normally cause unilateral loss?

Answer 8

There are two posterior spinal arteries
A blockage in one will often only affect one side as the other side still has blood supply

Question 9

What does the posterior cerebral artery supply?

Answer 9

• Occipital lobe
• Inferior temporal lobe
• Thalamus
• Midbrain as it passes

Question 10

What does the superior cerebellar artery supply?

Answer 10

Superior cerebellum
Midbrain as it passes

Question 11

What do the pontine arteries supply?

Answer 11

Pons
Descending corticospinal fibres

Question 12

What does the anterior inferior cerebellar artery supply?

Answer 12

• Antero-inferior cerebellum
• Lateral pons as it passes

Question 13

What does the posterior inferior cerebellar artery supply?

Answer 13

• postero-inferior cerebellum
• medulla as it passes

Question 14

What does the basilar artery arise from?

Answer 14

Vertebral arteries

Question 15

What does the middle cerebral artery supply?

Answer 15

Lateral aspect of cerebral hemisphere
- lateral frontal + parietal lobes
- superior temporal lobe

Question 16

How does the anterior cerebral artery distribute itself?

Answer 16

• Left + right ACA anastomose in midline via anterior communicating artery
• Loops over superior surface of corpus callosum

Question 17

What do the lenticulostriate arteries branch from?

Answer 17

Middle cerebral artery

Question 18

What do the lenticulostriate arteries supply?

Answer 18

Deep grey matter
lentiform nucleus
Caudate
internal capsule

Question 19

What does an occlusion in a lenticulostriate artery cause?

Answer 19

Lacunar infarct

Question 20

What does the anterior cerebral artery arise from?c

Answer 20

Internal carotid artery

Question 21

What does the anterior cerebral artery supply?

Answer 21

Medial hemisphere
- medial aspect of frontal + parietal lobes
- corpus callosum

Question 22

What are the main blood vessels supplying anterior brain circulation?

Answer 22

Middle + anterior cerebral arteries

Question 23

What are spinothalamic modalities?

Answer 23

Pain
Pressure/crude touch
Temperature

Question 24

What are dorsal column modalities?

Answer 24

Proprioception
Vibration
2 point discrimination
Fine touch