Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Fig 1.
Illustration of the arterial radiculomedullary supply to the spinal cord. A posterior view of the distal spinal cord demonstrates the radiculomedullary supply of the distal cord. Ventrally, the artery of Adamkiewicz can be seen as the dominant anterior radiculomedullary supply. A dominant posterior radiculomedullary arterial feeder is referred to as the great posterior radiculomedullary artery. Image © 2019 Insil Choi. Reproduced with permission.
- Fig 2.
The great posterior radiculomedullary artery. Dorsolateral views from 3 different spinal cord specimens (A–C) reveal clear evidence of a dominant GPRA.
- Fig 3.
GPRA position. Photographs of the posterior aspect of the spinal cord in 3 different specimens show a left-sided GPRA (A), bilateral GPRAs (B), and a right-sided GPRA (C). A unilateral left-sided GPRA was seen in 13 (26%) specimens; a unilateral right sided GPRA, in 11 cases (22%); and bilateral GPRAs, in 11 specimens (22%).
- Fig 4.
Multiple GPRAs. In 1 specimen, a total of 3 dominant right-sided GPRAs are evident (arrows), present at the level of T11 (0.371 mm), T12 (0.319 mm), and L1 (0.240 mm).
- Fig 5.
Absence of a GPRA. In specimen A, bilateral PSAs are evident along the dorsal aspect of the cord (A, arrows), with numerous small-caliber posterior radiculomedullary arteries supplying the left PSA (A, arrowheads). A posterior radiculomedullary artery with a dominant caliber could not be identified. No GPRA is evident in this case. In cases in which a GPRA is absent, a typical trifurcation pattern of the ASA is evident along the ventral aspect of the cord (B). The distal ASA typically trifurcates distally into a small midline artery (B, arrow), which courses toward the filum terminale and 2 small-caliber lateral branches (B, arrowheads) along the anterolateral surface of the conus, which form termino-terminal anastomoses with the corresponding PSAs (often referred to as the basket of the conus medullaris).
Tables
Spinal Level Left-Sided GPRA (24/36) Right-Sided GPRA (25/36) T9 2 3 T10 4 2 T11 2 3 T12 9 9 L1 5 6 L2 2 1 L3 0 1 Spinal Level Left-Sided AKA Right-Sided AKA T3 1 0 T4 0 0 T5 1 0 T6 1 0 T7 2 1 T8 10 1 T9 13 1 T10 6 3 T11 5 1 T12 5 1 L1 2 0 L2 2 0 ↵a Six of the specimens demonstrated duplicated AKAs.
