ANATOMICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VERTEBRAL ARTERIES AND CERVICAL VERTEBRAE: A COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY STUDY

Vertebral arteries ascend lateral to the cervical spine. Although non-contrasting tomographic studies have attempted to determine the anatomical relationship between these arteries and the spine, the presence and position of the former have yet to be clearly demonstrated. This study was thus aimed to determine the position of the vertebral arteries in relation to the midline, anterior and posterior planes of the vertebral body of each cervical vertebrae. Twenty six adult patients, without lesions that could distort normal anatomy, were employed as subjects and 52 vertebral arteries were analyzed. Two-dimensional computerized tomographies scans were conducted following the injection of an intra-venous contrast. Statistical analyses evaluated the differences between the distances of the vertebral arteries to the various cervical vertebrae. At the level of C1 and C7 the vertebral arteries were found to be farther from the midline plane (p