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Age dependence of critical pressure in the segments and branches of the circle of Willis
Affiliations- Institute of Automatic Control and Robotics, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Descriptive and Clinical Anatomy, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, Poland
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Neurosurgery, Prof J. Bogdanowicz's Children's Hospital, Warsaw, Poland
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Abstract
Spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage is one of the most dramatic neurological disasters. The source of haemorrhage is linked to the pathology of the arterial wall or is unknown. Because the risk of haemorrhagic stroke increases with age, we tried to investigate the relationship between age and rupture pressure of cerebral arteries. In the presented study, 51 segments of large cerebral arteries (at the level of the circle of Willis and its incoming and outgoing branches) were obtained from 33 cadaver brains aged 12–86 years. The segments were pressurized up to the rupture. The rupture pressure was noted. The highest observed pressure was 4.3atm in specimen aged 24 years. The lowest pressure 1.19atm was observed in specimen aged 80 years. The mean value of rupture pressure of all investigated segments was 2.28atm.
Statistical analysis showed a nonlinear exponential decrease of the rupture pressure of the large cerebral arteries with age. The main conclusion from our study is that drop of cerebral arteries strength is observed to the age of 40. Later this lowering is visible but not so evident.
Abstract
Spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage is one of the most dramatic neurological disasters. The source of haemorrhage is linked to the pathology of the arterial wall or is unknown. Because the risk of haemorrhagic stroke increases with age, we tried to investigate the relationship between age and rupture pressure of cerebral arteries. In the presented study, 51 segments of large cerebral arteries (at the level of the circle of Willis and its incoming and outgoing branches) were obtained from 33 cadaver brains aged 12–86 years. The segments were pressurized up to the rupture. The rupture pressure was noted. The highest observed pressure was 4.3atm in specimen aged 24 years. The lowest pressure 1.19atm was observed in specimen aged 80 years. The mean value of rupture pressure of all investigated segments was 2.28atm.
Statistical analysis showed a nonlinear exponential decrease of the rupture pressure of the large cerebral arteries with age. The main conclusion from our study is that drop of cerebral arteries strength is observed to the age of 40. Later this lowering is visible but not so evident.
Keywords
Arterial pressure, Cerebral artery, Cerebrovascular circulation, Intracranial haemorrhage, Rupture pressure
About this articleTitle
Age dependence of critical pressure in the segments and branches of the circle of Willis
Journal
Neurologia i Neurochirurgia Polska
Issue
Pages
146-148
Page views
381
Article views/downloads
560
DOI
10.1016/j.pjnns.2017.01.003
Bibliographic record
Neurol Neurochir Pol 2017;51(2):146-148.
Keywords
Arterial pressure
Cerebral artery
Cerebrovascular circulation
Intracranial haemorrhage
Rupture pressure
Authors
Adam Piechna
Leszek Lombarski
Paweł Krajewski
Bogdan Ciszek
Krzysztof Cieslicki
