Anatomy of spinal blood supply

Abstract

The intricate three-dimensional vascular anatomy of the spinal cord is still not completely understood, and its terminology varies between studies. In view of its importance in spinal ischemia, an analysis is needed of the anatomic vocabulary used to describe the spinal cord blood supply to improve understanding of the subject. The main supply is the Adamkiewicz artery, also known as great anterior radicular artery. The literature was reviewed to equate the different nomenclatures employed and an accurate description of current knowledge on spinal cord vascularization was prepared.

Keywords:
spinal cord; anatomy; spine; aorta