Territories of the perforating (lenticulostriate) branches of the middle cerebral artery

Abstract

The territories of the central branches of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) were examined in 21 injected human brains. It was noted that these central arteries supplied: the caudate nucleus (dorsolateral half of the rostral part of its head; the entire caudal part of the head; the body and rostral portion of the tail in some cases), the putamen (dorsolateral part of its rostral portion, the remainder of the putamen, except the most caudal part occasionally), the globus pallidus (the entire lateral segment, except the ventrorostral and, sometimes, the most caudal part), the basal forebrain (lateral parts of the basal nucleus of Meynert and the nucleus of the diagonal band, as well as fiber bundles in this region), the internal capsule (dorsal and ventrocaudal part of the anterior limb, dorsal part of the genu, dorsal and ventrorostral part of the posterior limb), the corona radiata (a narrow strip close to the internal capsule) and the cerebral cortex (the caudal orbitofrontal cortex occasionally). The presented data may have certain neuroradiologic, neurologic and neurosurgical significance.