Anterior communicating artery
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.
View Frank Gaillard's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Francis Deng had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Francis Deng's current disclosures- Anterior communicating artery (ACOM)
- ACOM
- ACOMs
- Anterior communicating arteries
- AComm
The anterior communicating artery (often abbreviated ACom or AComm) arises from the anterior cerebral artery and acts as an anastomosis between the left and right anterior cerebral circulation. Approximately 4 mm in length, it demarcates the junction between the A1 and A2 segments of the anterior cerebral artery.
Branches
The anterior communicating artery gives off numerous small branches that go on to supply the following structures:
anterior columns of the fornix
para-olfactory areas
Variant anatomy
anterior communicating artery duplication: incidence 18%
anterior communicating artery fenestration: incidence ~15% (range 12-21%)
anterior communicating artery origin of frontopolar artery, resulting in an anterior cerebral artery "trifurcation" or "triplication" appearance: incidence ~7.5% (range 2-13%)
absent anterior communicating artery: incidence 5% (at surgical dissection) 2
If the vessel is not well seen on routine angiography, cross-compression view of the anterior cerebral artery/anterior communicating artery complex can be performed.
Quiz questions
References
- 1. Susan Standring. Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. (2015) ISBN: 0702052302 - Google Books
- 2. Dimmick S & Faulder K. Normal Variants of the Cerebral Circulation at Multidetector CT Angiography. Radiographics. 2009;29(4):1027-43. doi:10.1148/rg.294085730 - Pubmed
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