Objective

An adequate knowledge of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) is oriented to the morphological sciences, clinical management and surgical planning of the posterior fossa. We aimed to determine the morphology of AICA in a sample from Colombian population.

Method

We studied 92 AICA from fresh cadavers. For each specimen, the vertebral arteries were injected with 100 cc of semi-synthetic resin (a mixture of Palatal E210® BASF 80 cc and Styrene 20 cc) dyed with mineral red. The biometrics and morphological variables of AICA were registered.

Results

AICA originated at 9.9 ± 3.2 mm from the vertebrobasilar junction. In 12 samples (8.1%), we observed a common trunk between AICA and posterior inferior cerebellar artery, which presented a caliber of 1.56 ± 0.23 mm and a length of 11.3  ± 3. 53 mm. In 80 (51.3%) specimens, AICA was originated from the proximal segment of basilar artery, while in 76 (48.7%) of them emerged from the medium segment. The AICA bifurcation distance from its origin was less than 20 mm in 20.5% of cases; between 20 and 40 mm in 62.3%. In its trajectory, AICA passed ventral to the facial nerve in 85 samples (53.2%), dorsal to the facial nerve in 68 samples (43.6%) and between the roots in 5 samples (3.2%).

Conclusions

The origin of the AICA from the proximal segment of the basilar artery is confirmed in this study, which disagrees with reports that point out its origin in the middle segment.

中文翻译：

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小脑前下动脉的形态特征：直接解剖研究。

目的

对小脑前下动脉（AICA）的充分了解是针对后颅窝的形态学，临床管理和手术计划。我们旨在确定哥伦比亚人群样本中AICA的形态。

方法

我们研究了新鲜尸体的92个AICA。对于每个标本，向椎动脉注入100 cc矿物红染色的半合成树脂（BatalE210®BASF 80 cc和苯乙烯20 cc的混合物）。登记了AICA的生物特征和形态学变量。

结果

AICA起源于椎基底交界处9.9±3.2 mm。在12个样本（8.1％）中，我们观察到AICA和小脑后下动脉之间的共同主干，其口径为1.56±0.23 mm，长度为11.3±3. 53 mm。在80个样本中（51.3％），AICA起源于基底动脉的近端部分，而在其中的76个样本中（48.7％）来自中段。在20.5％的病例中，距原点的AICA分叉距离小于20 mm；在20至40毫米之间，占62.3％。在其轨迹中，AICA在85个样品（53.2％）中从腹侧穿过到面神经，在68个样品（43.6％）中穿过到面神经的背侧，在5个样品（3.2％）的根之间穿过。

结论

这项研究证实了AICA起源于基底动脉的近端，这与指出其起源于中段的报道不同。