Developmental anatomy, angiography, and clinical implications of orbital arterial variations involving the stapedial artery

Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2009 May;19(2):169-79, Table of Contents. doi: 10.1016/j.nic.2009.02.001.

Abstract

Classical anatomists have provided detailed description of the arterial collateral pathways found in the head and neck. The small branches building this intricate network are difficult to access. The arterial map inherited from the anatomists has been put to the test with detailed high-resolution vascular imaging. Superselective angiography has helped rediscover the complexity of the craniocervical arterial network. The concept of dangerous collaterals or dangerous anastomoses was born with the advent of endovascular therapy. Although dangerous anastomoses of the skull base are described in the literature, variations and collateral pathways have been overlooked or misunderstood. This article reviews normal orbital arterial vascularization and its principal variations.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Angiography / methods*
  • Humans
  • Models, Anatomic*
  • Ophthalmic Artery / abnormalities*
  • Ophthalmic Artery / diagnostic imaging*
  • Stapedius / abnormalities*
  • Stapedius / diagnostic imaging*