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Updated: Dec 22, 2025
A Methodological Approach to Non-invasive Assessments of Vascular Function and Morphology
Published on: February 7, 2015
A study on age- and gender-dependent differences in distance and angle between the internal carotid artery and
Mi-Hyun Choi1, Hyung-Sik Kim1, Beob-Yi Lee2
1Biomedical Engineering, Research Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of ICT Convergence Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea.
Insights
As people age, the distance between the internal carotid artery (ICA) and basilar artery (BA) shortens, particularly in women. This study provides crucial anatomical data for brain disease diagnosis and surgical procedures.
Area of Science:
- Neuroanatomy
- Vascular Anatomy
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Anatomical variations of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and basilar artery (BA) pose surgical risks.
- Understanding the spatial relationship (distance and angle) between the ICA and BA is medically significant.
Purpose of the Study:
- To measure the distance and angle between the ICA and BA in healthy Korean adults.
- To analyze age and gender-related differences in these vascular relationships.
Main Methods:
- Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for data acquisition.
- Defined specific measurements: R1 (right ICA-BA distance), L2 (left ICA-BA distance), M3 (inter-ICA distance), AR1 (right ICA-BA angle), AR2 (left ICA-BA angle).
Main Results:
- Increasing age correlated with shorter R1 and M3 distances in both genders.
- L2 distance decreased with age, but only in women.
- Age and gender influence the spatial configurations of the ICA and BA.
Conclusions:
- This study establishes normative data for ICA-BA distances and angles in Korean adults aged 20-40.
- Findings can aid in diagnosing neurological conditions and planning surgical interventions.
- Provides essential anatomical references for neurovascular assessments.
Background:
Variations or malformation of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and basilar artery (BA) can be risk factors during simple surgery. So medically the focus has been on information about the positional relationship between the blood vessels based on the distance and angle between the ICA and BA.
Objective:
This study measured the distance and angle between the ICA and BA in 188 healthy Korean male and female subjects in their 20s and 40s and analyzed the differences in terms of age and gender.
Methods:
Magnetic resonance images were obtained; the distance between the right ICA and BA was defined as R1 [cm], the distance between the left ICA and BA was defined as L2 [cm], and the distance between the right ICA and left ICA was defined as M3 [cm]. The angles between the right and left ICA and BA were defined as AR1 [degree] and AR2 [degree], respectively.
Results:
With increasing age, R1 and M3 became shorter in both men and women, and L2 became shorter only in women.
Conclusion:
The results of this study provide data on the average distance and angle between the ICA and BA of healthy Korean men and women in their 20s and 40s, which may later be used to support the diagnosis of relevant brain diseases and simple routine surgical procedures.
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