MCA part of COW?

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MCA part of COW?

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DrVirgo
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02/14/06 - 09:01 AM

Is the Middle Cerebral artery part of the Circle of Willis or not?
(kaplan anat shows it as not)

Anyone know for sure?

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DrVirgo
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02/14/06 - 10:11 AM

Also: If MCA is occluded, can blood take another pathway?

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ureterpolyp

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02/15/06 - 12:36 PM

should be part of the circle

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zaidsuror
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02/18/06 - 03:31 AM

Anatomically speaking ,the mca is not part of the circle of willis per se ,however this doesn't mean there are no anastamosis with the branches from the other cerebral arteries.The question is would the anas. provide sufficient collateral flow when needed???

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DrVirgo
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02/18/06 - 12:43 PM

yes zaidsuror,
I agree that the mca is not anatomically part of the circle of willis.
So is there collateral flow if its blocked? do you know?

Thanks.

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giovanni83
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08/25/06 - 05:28 AM

MCA is NOT a part of circle of willis!!be careful in the test!

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muzammil
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08/25/06 - 01:58 PM

agree that MCA not part of circle of willis

fox
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08/25/06 - 02:34 PM

mca is from the int carotid system & circle of willis is the anastomosis between the int carotid system & vertebral artery system. However, even if the MCA is not a part of the circle of willis, functionally, there is an anastomosis & this is particularly important when the interanal carotid artery is blocked/ excised as part of a radical neck dissection etc.

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