Changing Diameters of Cerebral Vessels with Age in Human Autopsy Specimens: Possible Relationships to Atherosclerotic Changes

Abstract

Aims/Objectives: It has been previously recognized that the anatomy of arterial bifurcations influences blood flow and has a significant role in the development of vascular disease.

Material and Methods: In the present study, we measured the average diameters of the internal carotid (ICA), anterior cerebral (ACA), and middle cerebral arteries (MCA) in autopsy cases. We also calculated the outflow to inflow area ratios for four distinct age groups and for each gender, using 33 adult autopsies and 7 fetuses.

Results: The area ratios decreased with age in both male and female samples. The decrease in the male (30%, p<0.05) was greater than the decrease for the female (17%, p > 0.05). The average diameter of the ACA, MCA and ICA of both female and male cases increased up to the 25–44 age group, decreased for the 45–64 age group, with a second increase above the age of 65.

Conclusions: The decrease in the area ratios and the pattern of changes of the dimensions of the cerebral vessels with age are useful to examine the causal relationships of these pathologic conditions and raises novel questions about age and gender differences in the structure of the intracranial vessels.

Zusammenfassung

Es ist bereits anerkannt, dass die Anatomie der arteriellen Bifurkationen den Blutfluss beeinflusst und eine signifikante Rolle in der Entwicklung von Gefäßerkrankungen spielt.

Material und Methode: In dieser Studie maßen wir die durchschnittlichen Durchmesser der Arteria carotis interna (ICA), Arteria cerebri anterior (ACA) und der Arteria cerebri media (MCA) bei Autopsiefällen. Wir berechneten auch das Flächenverhältnis zwischen Zufluss- und Abflussflächen für 4 definierte Altersgruppen und die beiden Geschlechter bei 33 adulten Autopsiefällen und 7 Föten.

Ergebnisse: Die Flächenverhältnisse nahmen mit dem Alter bei männlichen und weiblichen Probanden ab. Die Abnahme beim Mann (30%, p<0,05) war größer als die Abnahme bei der Frau (17%, p<0,05). Der durchschnittliche Durchmesser von ACA, MCA und ICA nahm sowohl bei Männern wie auch bei Frauen bis in die Altersgruppe 25–44 Jahren zu, nahm dann für die Altersgruppe 45–64 ab, mit einer weiteren Abnahme oberhalb 65 Jahren.

Schlussfolgerung: Die Abnahme des Verhältnisses der Zufluss- wie Abflussflächen und das Muster der Veränderungen der Maße der zerebralen Arterien mit dem Alter sind nützlich, um die kausale Beziehung dieser pathologischen Veränderungen zu untersuchen. So ergeben sich neue Fragestellungen bezüglich Alter und Ge-schlechtsdifferenzen in der Struktur intrakranieller Arterien.

Key words

intracranial arteries - arterial bifurcations - blood flow - gender differences - area ratio

Schlüsselwörter

zerebrale Arterien - arterielle Bifurkation - zerebraler Blutfluss - Geschlechtsunterschiede

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