ANGIOGRAPHIC STUDY OF SPINAL-CORD VASCULA RIZATION AT THE THORACOLUMBAR LEVEL

In this retrospective work based on a series of spinal angiograms perf ormed in the Neuroradiology Department of the Salpetriere Hospital, Pa ris, we studied the number of examinations that showed one or several anterior radiculospinal arteries at the thoracolumbar level, as well a s their origin at different levels from T6 to L3. Analysis of the whol e group of 552 patients showed some deviation from the previously publ ished radio-anatomical papers. This was confirmed and illustrated more clearly by the analysis of a series of 174 cases selected among these 552 patients. This second series was particular in that it featured b ilateral catheterization of every artery likely to give off a radiculo spinal artery at all levels from T6 to L3, thus providing more reliabl e statistical data. We found that 48% of the patients had their thorac olumbar blood supply based on two anterior radiculospinal arteries the lowest of which was located at, or lower than, T12, and the second an d higher one between T6 and T10. Only 45% of the studies showed a bloo d supply relying on a single anterior radiculospinal artery which most frequently had its origin at T9. In 7% of the cases the thoracolumbar spinal cord was supplied by 3 anterior radiculospinal arteries. Our r esults demonstrate the presence of at least two different patterns of spinal cord blood supply at the thoracolumbar level, with a variation in the origin of the anterior radiculospinal arteries. These recent fi ndings may increase the reliability and improve the technique of spina l angiography, especially in difficult cases.