Background: As novel endovascular strategies are developed for treating neurological disease, there is an increasing need to evaluate these techniques in relevant preclinical models. The use of non-human primates is especially critical given their structural and physiological homology with humans. In order to conduct primate endovascular studies, a comprehensive understanding of the carotid anatomy is necessary. We therefore performed a detailed examination of the vessel lengths, lumen diameters and angles of origin of the baboon extracranial carotid system.
Methods: We characterized the extracranial carotid system often male baboons (Papio anubis, range 15.1-28.4 kg) by early post-mortem dissection. Photographic documentation of vessel lengths, lumen diameters, and angles of origin were measured for each segment of the carotid bilaterally.
Results: The common carotid arteries averaged 94.7 +/- 1.7 mm (left) and 87.1 +/- 1.6 mm (right) in length. The average minimal common carotid lumen diameters were 3.0 +/- 0.3 mm (left) and 2.9 +/- 0.2 mm (right). Each animal had a common brachiocephalic artery arising from the aorta which bifurcated into the left common carotid artery and right braciocephalic artery after 21.5 +/- 1.6 mm. The vascular anatomy was found to be consistent among animals despite a wide range of animal weights.
Conclusions: The consistency in the Papio anubis extracranial carotid system may promote the use of this species in the preclinical investigation of neuro-interventional therapies.