Persistent primitive olfactory artery connected with middle cerebral artery: case report

Surg Radiol Anat. 2013 Nov;35(9):849-52. doi: 10.1007/s00276-013-1147-8. Epub 2013 Jun 15.

Abstract

A persistent primitive olfactory artery (PPOA) is an extremely rare variation of the proximal anterior cerebral artery (ACA). The PPOA is connected to the distal ACA, ethmoidal artery, or both. I describe one patient with a PPOA connected to the middle cerebral artery (MCA). I analyzed the radiological characteristics of this anomalous vessel in this patient, who presented with headache. Computed tomography-angiography revealed an abnormal vessel in the patient, which originated from the distal ACA and ran anteromedially along the olfactory tract; it then made an abrupt turn and became the MCA. A PPOA connected to the MCA has been described in only two patients, including my own, in the English-language literature.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Angiography
  • Anterior Cerebral Artery / abnormalities*
  • Anterior Cerebral Artery / diagnostic imaging
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Cerebral Artery / abnormalities*
  • Middle Cerebral Artery / diagnostic imaging
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed