Gender differences in the posterior circulations of the circle of Willis: A radioanatomical study
The complete arterial Circle of Willis (CoW) provides collateral circulation by its communicating arteries to meet the high cerebral metabolic demand. Based on its development, the posterior circulation of the CoW is divided into three types- adult, fetal and transitional types according to dia...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5046/1/FH02-FP-16-04922.pdf http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5046/ |
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| Summary: | The complete arterial Circle of Willis
(CoW) provides collateral circulation by its
communicating arteries to meet the high
cerebral metabolic demand. Based on its
development, the posterior circulation of the CoW is divided into three types- adult, fetal
and transitional types according to diameter
of the posterior communicating artery in
relation to the proximal segment of posterior
cerebral artery. Many studies showed that
the complete CoW is atypical in 40-70%o of
population and it was associated with higher
incidence of cerebral vascular diseases.
Advancement in imaging studies like
computed tomographic angiography (CTA)
assists in studying the cerebral vessels and
their anomalies. The main objective of this
study was to identify the variations in the
diameters of the CoW in patients who had
undergone brain CTA. This is a
retrospective study of the CTA databases
from 123 patients who underwent brain
CTA for suspected cerebral vascular
diseases within year 2009-2011 in Hospital
Universiti Sains Malaysia. The
reconstructed three-dimensional images of
the databases were examined thoroughly for
the configuration of the CoW, absence of
any vascular segment and presence of
aneurysm. The same image series were
converted to coronal, sagittal and transverse
planes for measurement of the diameters of
the different vascular segments of the CoW.
The results showed no gender difference in
vessels diameters, but the anomalies were
significantly more in the posterior
communicating arlery. Tlpes of posterior
circulation showed that adult type was
higher in males (rr<0.01, z test) but
transitional and feotal types were higher in
females (p<0.01, z test). In conclusion, there
was male-female difference in tlpes of
posterior circulation of the CoW. |
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