The morphology of basilar artery and its clinical significance

Objective To investigate the morphology of the basilar artery(especially the main reason of the tortuous basilar artery)and its clinical significance by 3.0 T Magnetic Resonance Angiography.Methods A total of 108 subjects experienced MRA and conventional MRI examination,the sex ratio was 58 male to 50 female,and the age ranged from 4 to 63 years(mean 39.86±14.57 years).Observing the morphology of the basilar artery and the vertebral artery.The results were statistically analyzed.Statistical testing was performed.Results The number of the basilar artery running straight,tortuous,and inclined were 37,52 and 14 respectively.There was no difference between different age groups whether the basilar artery bending(wilcoxon rank test,χ2=6.1288,P=0.18970.05).The basilar artery often bending to the left in the subjects with right vertebral artery dominant,the basilar artery often bending to the right in the subjects with left vertebral artery dominant(χ2=6.5625,P=0.01040.05).The basilar artery often bending to the right in the subjects with left vertebral artery dominant,the basilar artery often without bending in the subjects with equal vertebral artery dominant(χ2=5.0258,P=0.02500.05).Conclusions The basilar artery bending is very common,and it has relationship with atherosclerosis,vertebral artery dominant and so on,sufficient attention should be paid to in clinical practice.