Eur J Anat, 24 (4): 297-309 (2020)

Cross-sectional angiographic imaging of anatomical variations in the circle of Willis: A literature review

Abdulwahab F. Alahmari^1,2

¹Radiology Department, Al-Namas General Hospital, Ministry of Health, Al-Namas City, Saudi Arabia.²Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

ABSTRACT The circle of Willis supplies blood to the brain and other pivotal structures, and has considerable importance in clinical teaching and practice. Stud-ies have described angiographic anatomical varia-tions in the circle of Willis in populations diverse in age, gender, race, and geographical region using different research methodologies, including study designs and diagnostic modalities. This compre-hensive review compares and contrasts the find-ings of these studies in terms of prevalence, comorbidities, and clinical applications of anatomi-cal variations across these different studies. More-over, an embryological and physiological basis of these variations has been discussed in this review.

Keywords: Circle of Willis â?? Angiography â?? Ana-tomical variations â?? Magnetic resonance imaging â??Computed tomography