Abstract
Differentiating “infundibula” from true aneurysms is a common source of consternation for radiologists. Infundibula are typically considered “don’t touch” lesions that are incidental, being most commonly located at the posterior communicating artery (PcoA) origin of the internal carotid artery (ICA) in 7–25 % of the population; the vast majority do not rupture over time. Histologically, the findings have varied. Some smaller studies have shown defects similar to aneurysms within the media, and occasionally defects of the internal elastic lamina, but other studies have shown no difference from normal arterial bifurcations. Several criteria can be used to differentiate an infundibulum from an aneurysm, but there can be a slight overlap between the two, particularly at the PcoA origin, and there is still debate as to how commonly aneurysms arise from infundibula, an event that has been shown (rarely) to occur many years later.
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McKinney, A.M. (2017). Infundibular Outpouchings of Intracranial Arteries. In: Atlas of Normal Imaging Variations of the Brain, Skull, and Craniocervical Vasculature . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39790-0_38
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39790-0_38
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