Canal of Gratiolet
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At the time the article was created Rohit Sharma had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Rohit Sharma's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures- Gratiolet canal
The canal of Gratiolet refers to a thin layer of grey matter that circumferentially covers the white matter fibers of the anterior commissure, as it runs between the right and left basal ganglia across the midline.
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Gross anatomy
The canal of Gratiolet begins in between the putamen and globus pallidus, where it envelopes the posterior fascicle (or limb or crus) of the anterior commissure, before following and continuing to envelop these white matter fibers as they run anteromedially where they join the anterior fascicle 1-3. At this point the canal of Gratiolet then envelopes the whole of the anterior commissure as it crosses the midline, continuing its course symmetrically into the contralateral hemisphere 1-3.
History and etymology
Louis Pierre Gratiolet (1815-1850) was a French anatomist 4,5.
Clinical importance
While the function of the canal of Gratiolet is unknown, the canal may be a medium for the spread of intracerebral hemorrhage 2,3. Indeed, there are a few case reports of patients with bilateral basal ganglia intracerebral hemorrhage where blood is seen on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) to involve the canal of Gratiolet, with the hypothesis being that hemorrhage may have been unilateral initially but then tracked through the canal of Gratiolet to involve the contralateral basal ganglia 2,3.
References
- 1. Baudo M, Colombo E, Pérez M et al. Three-Dimensional Anatomy of the Anterior Commissure: A Tractography and Anatomical Study. World Neurosurg. 2022;159:e365-74. doi:10.1016/j.wneu.2021.12.059 - Pubmed
- 2. Ismail R, George D, Kohli G, Khan M, Wang H, Mattingly T. A Case of Spontaneous Basal Ganglia Hemorrhage with Contralateral Extension Utilizing the Canal of Gratiolet. BMC Neurol. 2023;23(1):190. doi:10.1186/s12883-023-03232-4 - Pubmed
- 3. Huang C & Wang Y. Where is the Canal of Gratiolet? Radiology. 2024;312(1):e240751. doi:10.1148/radiol.240751 - Pubmed
- 4. Finlayson J. Eponymic Structures in Human Anatomy. Glasgow Med J. 1895;44(6):401-16. PMC5945436 - Pubmed
- 5. Gratiolet LP (1854) Memoire Sur Les Plis Cerébraux de L'homme et des Primates. Paris: Bertrand.
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