Extremely long posterior cerebral artery P1 segment

Excluding aplasia and hypoplasia of the P1 segment of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA), anatomical variations in the PCA are rare. To our best knowledge, there are few reports of an extremely long P1 segment of the PCA.

Herein, we report a rare case of an extremely long P1 segment of the PCA, which was diagnosed by 1.5-T magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).

A 96-year-old woman was transferred by ambulance to our hospital with impaired consciousness. Her symptom improved, and magnetic resonance imaging showed no significant findings. MRA revealed an extremely long P1 segment of the left PCA. The length of the P1 segment of the left PCA was 27.3 mm. The left posterior communicating artery (PCoA) was 20.9 mm, which is not considered long. The left anterior choroidal artery branched from the internal carotid artery distal to the PCoA branching position. Basilar artery fenestration was also incidentally identified.

Careful imaging assessment was important for identifying the extremely long P1 segment of the PCA in the present case. This rare anatomical variation can also be confirmed by 1.5-T MRA.