A persistent trigeminal artery demonstrates cerebrovascular embryologic development

BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular embryologic development is characterized by the presence of four well-described carotid-vertebrobasilar (VB) anastomoses. As the fetal hindbrain matures and the VB system develops, these connections involute, yet some may persist into adulthood. The persistent primitive trigeminal artery (PPTA) is the most common of these anastomoses. In this report, we describe a unique variant of the PPTA and a four-way division of the VB circulation. CASE DESCRIPTION: A female in her 70s presented with a Fisher Grade 4 subarachnoid hemorrhage. Catheter angiography revealed a fetal origin of the left posterior cerebral artery (PCA) giving rise to a left P2 aneurysm which was coiled. A PPTA arose from the left internal carotid artery and supplied the distal basilar artery (BA) including the superior cerebellar arteries bilaterally and the right but not left PCA. The mid-BA was atretic and the anterior inferior cerebellar artery-posterior inferior cerebellar artery complexes were fed solely from the right vertebral artery. CONCLUSION: Our patient’s cerebrovascular anatomy represents a unique variant of the PPTA not well described in the literature. This demonstrates how hemodynamic capture of the distal VB territory by a PPTA is sufficient to prevent fusion of the BA.