Anatomical variations of the circle of Willis and cerebrovascular malformations on computed tomography angiography

• Autores: Bertado-Ramírez, Nancy Rosalía, Rojas-Velasco, María Fernanda, Ramos-Hernández, Leticia, Pelayo-Salazar, Eliezer Mallyolo, García-Galicia, Arturo, Montiel-Jarquín, Álvaro José, Palacios-Figueroa, Deyaneira
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2025
• Institución: Universidad de San Martín de Porres
• Repositorio: Horizonte médico
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:horizontemedico.usmp.edu.pe:article/3269
• Enlace del recurso: https://www.horizontemedico.usmp.edu.pe/index.php/horizontemed/article/view/3269
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Circle of Willis; Neuroanatomy; Central Nervous System Vascular Malformations; Computed Tomography Angiography; Círculo Arterial Cerebral; Neuroanatomía; Malformaciones Vasculares del Sistema Nervioso Central; Angiografía por Tomografía Computarizada

Objective: To determine the prevalence of anatomical variations of the circle of Willis (CoW) andtheir association with cerebrovascular malformations detected on cerebral computed tomographyangiography (CTA). Materials and methods: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional studywas conducted at a tertiary-care hospital involving a Mexican population. Patients of all ages andboth sexes, with complete medical histories and a cerebral CTA scan, were included. Patientswith incomplete CTA studies or missing data were excluded. Descriptive statistics and the phicoefficient were used to assess the relationship between cerebrovascular malformations andanatomical variations of the CoW. A p value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. All personal datawere handled with strict confidentiality and used exclusively for research purposes. Results:The sample consisted of 97 patients, with a mean age of 50.19 years (range: 11–79). The cohort comprised 65 females (67 %) and 32 males (33 %). Overall, 67 patients (69 %) had at least one comorbidity and 14 (14.4 %) had multiple comorbidities. The most common indication for cerebral CTA was aneurysm detection, observed in 36 patients (37.1 %).A total of 40 patients (41.2 %) presented anatomical variations of the CoW, while 61 exhibited cerebrovascular malformations.The most prevalent vascular variation was hypoplasia, found in 25 cases (62.5 %). The correlation between anatomical variationsof the CoW and cerebrovascular malformations showed a phi coefficient of -0.05 and a p value = 0.095. Conclusions: The studyfound a weak, statistically non-significant negative correlation between anatomical variations of the CoW and cerebrovascularmalformations. The classic anatomical configuration of the CoW was observed in 59 % of cases, with the anterior communicatingartery being the most frequently observed anatomical variation.