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Anatomy of the Insular Arteries

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Island of Reil (Insula) in the Human Brain

Abstract

The human insula is regarded as the hidden fifth lobe, and as a result, macroscopic features including vascularity of the insula are neglected in undergraduate and even in postgraduate medical education. The vasculature of the insula is of interest to many medical professionals interested in neuroanatomy, neuroimaging, neurosurgery, etc. The vascularity of the insula affects its functionality, and its vessels are associated with many diseases, such as strokes, infarcts, arteriovenous malformations, varices and tumours of insula. The middle cerebral artery is the main blood supply of the insula. Cortical branches of the middle cerebral artery lie over the insula and provide short, middle, and long perforating arteries. Insuloopercular and terminal insular arteries have been discussed and depicted. Arteries of the insula are presented herein.

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Abbreviations

A:

 Insular apex

ACA:

 Anterior cerebral artery

Ag:

 Accessory gyrus

AIP:

 Anterior insular point

ALg:

 Anterior long gyrus

ALs:

 Anterior limiting sulcus

Ang:

 Branch to angular gyrus

APr:

 Anterior parietal artery

aPx:

 Pial arterial plexus

ASg:

 Anterior short gyrus

ATm:

 Anterior temporal branch

Both:

 Transitional or mixed vascular area

CN:

 Caudate nucleus

Cn:

 Central sulcal artery

Cn1:

 Central sulcal artery 1

Cn2:

 Central sulcal artery 2

Cns:

 Central insular sulcus

Early IT:

 Early branch of middle cerebral artery suppling inferior trunk area

Early ST:

 Early branch of middle cerebral artery suppling superior trunk area

IC:

Insular cortex

ICA:

Internal cerebral artery

ILs:

Inferior limiting sulcus

IO:

Insuloopercular artery

IT:

Inferior trunk of middle cerebral artery

L:

Limen of the insula

LN:

Lentiform nucleus

LOF:

Lateral orbitofrontal artery

LPr:

Long perforating artery

LV:

Lateral ventricle

M1:

First (sphenoidal) segment of middle cerebral artery

M2:

Insular segment of middle cerebral artery

M3:

Opercular segment of middle cerebral artery

M4:

Cortical segment of middle cerebral artery

MCA:

Middle cerebral artery

MPr:

Middle perforating artery

MSg:

Middle short gyrus

MTm:

Middle temporal branch

Pal:

Pallidum

PCA:

Posterior cerebral artery

PIP:

Posterior insular point

PLg:

Posterior long gyrus

PLIC :

Posterior limb of the internal capsule

PlTm:

Polar temporal artery

PPr:

Posterior parietal artery

Pr:

Perforating insular artery

PreCn:

Precentral sulcal artery

PreCnI:

Precentral insular vein

PreCns:

Precentral insular sulcus

PreF:

Prefrontal artery

PSg:

Posterior short gyrus

PstCns:

Postcentral insular sulcus

PTm:

Posterior temporal branch

Put:

Putamen

SLs:

Superior limiting sulcus

SPr:

Short perforating artery

Ss:

Short insular sulcus

ST:

Superior trunk of middle cerebral artery

Stm:

Stem artery

Tg:

Transverse gyrus

TmO :

Temporooccipital branch

TrI:

Terminal insular artery

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

    Servet Celik M.D., Okan Bilge M.D. & Canan Yurttaş M.D.

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Adana Menderes University, Aydın, Turkey

    Mehmet Turgut M.D.

Authors
  1. Servet Celik M.D.
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  2. Okan Bilge M.D.
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  3. Canan Yurttaş M.D.
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  4. Mehmet Turgut M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Servet Celik M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Adnan Menderes University, School of Medicine , Aydın, Turkey

    Mehmet Turgut

  2. Ege University, Department of Anatomy, Izmir, Turkey

    Canan Yurttaş

  3. Seattle Science Foundation, Seattle, Washington, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

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Celik, S., Bilge, O., Yurttaş, C., Turgut, M. (2018). Anatomy of the Insular Arteries. In: Turgut, M., Yurttaş , C., Tubbs, R. (eds) Island of Reil (Insula) in the Human Brain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75468-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75468-0_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75467-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75468-0

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