Anterior spinal artery

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Artery: Anterior spinal artery

Arteries of the brain, brain stem and upper spinal cord (anterior spinal artery at bottom)
Latin	a. spinalis anterior
Gray's	subject #148
Source	vertebral arteries

In human anatomy, the anterior spinal artery is the blood vessel that supplies the anterior portion of the spinal cord. It arises from branches of the vertebral arteries and is supplied by the anterior segmental medullary arteries, including the artery of Adamkiewicz, and courses along the anterior aspect of the spinal cord.

The anterior spinal artery is a small branch, which arises near the termination of the vertebral, and, descending in front of the medulla oblongata, unites with its fellow of the opposite side at the level of the foramen magnum.

One of these vessels is usually larger than the other, but occasionally they are about equal in size.

The single trunk, thus formed, descends on the front of the medulla spinalis, and is reinforced by a succession of small branches which enter the vertebral canal through the intervertebral foramina; these branches are derived from the vertebral and the ascending cervical of the inferior thyroid in the neck; from the intercostals in the thorax; and from the lumbar, iliolumbar artery and lateral sacral arteries in the abdomen and pelvis.

They unite, by means of ascending and descending branches, to form a single anterior median artery, which extend as far as the lower part of the medulla spinalis, and is continued as a slender twig on the filum terminale.

This vessel is placed in the pia mater along the anterior median fissure; it supplies that membrane, and the substance of the medulla spinalis, and sends off branches at its lower part to be distributed to the cauda equina.

[edit] Disorders

Disruption of the anterior spinal cord leads to bilateral disruption of the corticospinal tract, causing motor deficits, and bilataeral disruption of the spinothalamic tract, causing sensory deficits in the form of pain/temperature sense loss.

[edit] See also

Anterior spinal artery syndrome

[edit] External links

Yoshioka K, Niinuma H, Ohira A, Nasu K, Kawakami T, Sasaki M, Kawazoe K. MR angiography and CT angiography of the artery of Adamkiewicz: noninvasive preoperative assessment of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. Radiographics. 2003 Sep-Oct;23(5):1215-25. PMID 12975511 Full Text
- Drawing of the anterior spinal artery
- Horizontal view of blood supply to the spinal cord

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.

Arteries of head and neckedit

EXTERNAL CAROTID: Anterior: superior thyroid - superior laryngeal - lingual (sublingual)

facial: cervical branches (ascending palatine - tonsillar - submental) - facial branches (inferior labial - superior labial - lateral nasal - angular)

Posterior and ascending: occipital - posterior auricular - stylomastoid - ascending pharyngeal (meningeal branches)
Terminal: superficial temporal - transverse facial - middle temporal (zygomaticoörbital) - parietal branch
internal maxillary - 1st part: anterior tympanic - deep auricular - middle meningeal - superior tympanic - accessory meningeal - inferior alveolar - lingual
2nd part: deep temporal - masseteric - buccinator - posterior superior alveolar
3rd part: infraorbital - descending palatine - artery of the pterygoid canal - sphenopalatine | (Gray's s144)