Posterior cerebral artery
Updates to Article Attributes
Body
was changed:
The posterior cerebral arteries (PCA) are the terminal branches of the basilar artery and supply the occipital lobes and posteromedial temporal lobes.
Summary
- origin: terminal branches of the basilar artery
- course: from basilar towards occiput
- main branches
- supply: occipital lobes and posteromedial temporal lobes
Gross anatomy
The PCA is divided into four segments:
-
P1: from it origin at the termination of the basilar artery to posterior communicating artery (PCOM), within interpeduncular cistern
. -
P2: from the PCOM around the mid-brain, divided into P2A (anterior) and P2P (posterior) sub-segments
.; P2A is within crural cistern which then bridges to the P2P segement in ambient cistern (thus ambient segment) - P3: quadrigeminal segment (segment with the quadrigeminal cistern)
- P4: cortical segment (e.g. calcarine artery, within the calcarine fissure)
Branches
- posterior communicating artery
- choroidal branches (from P2)
- perforators
- anterior thalamoperforator (from
PCommPCOM) - posterior thalamoperforator (from P1)
- thalamogeniculate perforator (from P2)
- peduncular perforator (from P2)
- circumflex (long and short)
- anterior thalamoperforator (from
-
cortical branches
- temporal branches
- anterior temporal artery
- posterior temporal artery
- lateral occipital artery
- anterior inferior temporal artery
- middle inferior temporal artery
- posterior inferior temporal artery
- medial occipital artery
- calcarine artery
- parieto-occipital artery
- splenial artery
- temporal branches
Variant anatomy
- PCA fenestration: rare
- fetal origin of PCA: unilateral incidence 10%, bilateral incidence 8%
-<strong>P1:</strong> from it origin at the termination of the basilar artery to <a href="/articles/posterior-communicating-artery">posterior communicating artery (PCOM)</a>, within interpeduncular cistern.</li>- +<strong>P1:</strong> from it origin at the termination of the basilar artery to <a href="/articles/posterior-communicating-artery">posterior communicating artery (PCOM)</a>, within interpeduncular cistern</li>
-<strong>P2:</strong> from the PCOM around the mid-brain, divided into P2A (anterior) and P2P (posterior) sub-segments. P2A is within crural cistern which then bridges to the P2P segement in ambient cistern (thus ambient segment)</li>- +<strong>P2:</strong> from the PCOM around the mid-brain, divided into P2A (anterior) and P2P (posterior) sub-segments; P2A is within crural cistern which then bridges to the P2P segement in ambient cistern (thus ambient segment)</li>
- +<li>choroidal branches (from P2)<ul>
- +</ul>
- +</li>
-<li>anterior thalamoperforator (from PComm)</li>- +<li>anterior thalamoperforator (from PCOM)</li>
- +<li>cortical branches<ul>
- +</ul>
- +</li>