Basilar artery

In human anatomy, the basilar artery is one of the arteries that supplies the brain with oxygen-rich blood.

The two vertebral arteries and the basilar artery are sometimes together called the vertebrobasilar system, which supplies blood to the posterior part of circle of Willis and anastomoses with blood supplied to the anterior part of the circle of Willis from the internal carotid arteries.

Course

The basilar artery arises from the confluence of the two vertebral arteries at the junction between the medulla oblongata and the pons between the VIth cranial nerves.

It ascends superiorly in the central gutter (sulcus basilaris) ventral to the pons and divides at the ponto-mesencephalic junction into the paired posterior cerebral arteries close to the pituitary stalk.

Its branches can be divided into two groups:

A. Paramedian perforating arteries arising either directly from the dorsal surface or from short circumferential arteries running around and into the pons supplying the corticospinal tracts and vital deep nuclei.