A persistent trigeminal artery (also written persistent primitive trigeminal artery, PPTA or PTA) is an embryonic vessel that should have closed by about the fifth week of gestation and did not. It runs from the cavernous segment of the internal carotid artery to the basilar artery, and it is the commonest and the largest of the surviving carotid-vertebrobasilar anastomoses. A meta-analysis of 39 studies and 110,866 patients put the pooled prevalence of the trigeminal artery and its variants at 0.4 percent, which means roughly 1 in 250 angiograms, so most radiologists meet one every few months without recognising it (PMID: 31536812).
The usual teaching that it is “an incidental finding of no consequence” is only half right. It is normally asymptomatic, but it changes three practical things: the basilar artery below it is hypoplastic in about 40 to 55 percent of cases, so a small proximal basilar artery is not a stenosis; a medial (sphenoidal) type crosses the floor of the sella and is a bleeding hazard in endoscopic endonasal pituitary surgery; and the vessel lies against the trigeminal nerve, so it can cause trigeminal neuralgia and it can be hit during a percutaneous trigeminal ganglion procedure.
| Feature | Persistent trigeminal artery |
|---|---|
| Definition | Retained embryonic anastomosis between the cavernous internal carotid artery and the basilar artery |
| Pooled prevalence | 0.4 percent for PTA plus variants (95 percent CI 0.3 to 0.5); PTA alone 0.3 percent, variants 0.2 percent |
| Usual origin | Posterolateral or posteromedial wall of the C4 (cavernous) internal carotid artery |
| Usual termination | Basilar artery between the AICA and SCA origins, mean 6.7 mm below the SCA |
| Side and sex | Left sided in about 60 to 63 percent; female predominance in most MRA series |
| Course | Lateral (petrosal) type in roughly 90 percent, medial (sphenoidal) type in the rest |
| Key associated finding | Hypoplastic proximal basilar artery in 42 to 54 percent, often with hypoplastic vertebral and posterior communicating arteries |
| Aneurysm risk | About 3 to 4 percent in unselected series, no higher than the general population |
| Imaging test of choice | CT or MR angiography; sagittal or oblique sagittal reformats show the tau sign |
| Reporting rule | State the Salas type (medial or lateral) and whether the posterior circulation is carotid dependent |
Quiz
Which of the following is not a persistent fetal carotid-vertebrobasilar anastomosis?
- Persistent trigeminal artery
- Persistent otic (acoustic) artery
- Fetal origin of the posterior cerebral artery
- Persistent hypoglossal artery
Embryology: why these vessels exist at all
In the 4 to 5 mm embryo the hindbrain is supplied segmentally by paired longitudinal neural arteries, and these are fed from the primitive internal carotid artery through four transverse channels named after the structure each runs beside: the trigeminal, otic, hypoglossal and proatlantal intersegmental arteries. As the two longitudinal neural arteries fuse into the basilar artery and the vertebral arteries take over from below, these channels normally involute within about a week. Any one of them can survive into adult life, and a survivor keeps the territory it originally supplied, which is why the basilar artery below a trigeminal artery is so often small.
| Anastomosis | Origin | Course | Termination | Reported prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trigeminal artery | Cavernous (C4) internal carotid artery | Beside the trigeminal nerve, lateral (petrosal) or medial (sphenoidal) to the dorsum sellae | Basilar artery, usually between the AICA and SCA origins | 0.3 to 0.7 percent |
| Otic (acoustic) artery | Petrous internal carotid artery within the carotid canal | Through the internal auditory meatus (by Lie’s criteria) | Caudal basilar artery | Existence disputed; only a handful of convincing reports |
| Hypoglossal artery | Posterior wall of the cervical internal carotid artery, C1 to C3 level (type 1), or the external carotid artery (type 2) | Through the hypoglossal canal | Basilar artery, with absent or hypoplastic vertebral arteries | 0.027 to 0.29 percent |
| Proatlantal intersegmental artery | Cervical internal carotid artery (type I) or proximal external carotid artery (type II) | Type I between the C1 arch and the occiput, type II through the C1 to C2 interspace | Vertebral artery, then through the foramen magnum | Rare, case-series level only |
Is the persistent otic artery real?
Probably not, and this matters because it is still taught as the “rarest and first to regress” member of the family. Lasjaunias and Berenstein stated they had never seen convincing anatomic or angiographic evidence of one and argued it should not exist: the otic artery supplies the otic placode, a sensory organ precursor, so unlike the trigeminal, hypoglossal and proatlantal arteries it never had a segmental role in feeding the neural tube. Lie’s three criteria for calling a vessel otic are strict, namely origin in the lateral petrous carotid canal, a course through the internal auditory meatus and a caudal basilar termination, and almost every published “otic artery” fails at least one of them. The best known angiographic report was reinterpreted in correspondence as a low-lying trigeminal artery (PMID: 12533340), and a stapedial artery remnant is the other common impostor. Practical position: if you see a carotid to basilar vessel, call it a trigeminal artery or a trigeminal artery variant unless it genuinely traverses the internal auditory canal (PMID: 31296065).
Key imaging features of a persistent trigeminal artery
- CT and MR angiography. An anomalous artery leaves the posterolateral or posteromedial wall of the cavernous internal carotid artery, runs backwards and medially, and joins the basilar artery. It is usually a similar calibre to the basilar artery itself, not a wisp.
- Tau sign. On sagittal or oblique sagittal reformats the vertical and horizontal cavernous segments of the internal carotid artery plus the proximal trigeminal artery form the Greek letter tau (ฯ). It is a helpful confirmatory shape rather than a sensitive one, since it needs the right obliquity (PMID: 25387648).
- Small proximal basilar artery. The basilar artery below the anastomosis is hypoplastic in 42.5 percent of pooled cases and moderately or severely hypoplastic in 54 percent of one MRA series. Do not report it as vertebrobasilar stenosis or as a dissection.
- Absent or hypoplastic posterior communicating and vertebral arteries. These travel with the anomaly and are part of the same haemodynamic package, which is why the search terms “absent PCom” and “hypoplastic vertebral artery” lead here.
- Where it joins. Mean distance from the SCA origin to the union is about 6.7 mm, so scrutinise the upper third of the basilar artery.
- Best sequences. Time of flight MRA at 3 T, CTA with thin reformats, and a heavily T2 weighted thin-slice sequence such as FIESTA, CISS or SPACE when the question is nerve contact. Catheter angiography is only needed when an aneurysm, a fistula or treatment planning is in play.
Medial versus lateral course, and why the surgeon cares
Salas and colleagues split the trigeminal artery by its relationship to the dorsum sellae, and this is the single most useful thing a radiology report can add (PMID: 9733310).
| Salas type | Course | Frequency | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medial (sphenoidal) | Perforates the central dorsum sellae and runs through the sellar floor region to reach the basilar artery | Uncommon: 4 of 48 trigeminal arteries, about 8 percent, in one large MRA series | Sits in the operative field of an endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach. In a systematic review of trigeminal arteries encountered with skull base tumours, 70 percent were the medial type, far above its background frequency |
| Lateral (petrosal) | Runs along the lateral edge of the dorsum sellae near the petrous apex, beside the trigeminal nerve, then joins the basilar artery | The large majority, 44 of 48 in one MRA series | Lies in Meckel’s cave and the prepontine cistern, so it is the type implicated in trigeminal neuralgia and in percutaneous trigeminal ganglion procedures |
Saltzman classification of the persistent trigeminal artery
Saltzman described three angiographic patterns in 1959, and the point of the scheme is not taxonomy but how much of the posterior circulation depends on the carotid artery. That single question decides whether a carotid sacrifice, a balloon test occlusion or a flow-diverting stent is safe.
| Saltzman type | What the trigeminal artery supplies | Posterior communicating artery | Practical meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type I | The whole distal posterior circulation: upper basilar artery, both SCAs and both posterior cerebral arteries | Absent or hypoplastic, and the proximal basilar artery and vertebral arteries may be too | The posterior circulation is carotid dependent. Preserve flow. Parent vessel occlusion is hazardous |
| Type II | Upper basilar artery and the SCAs only; the posterior cerebral arteries are fed from the posterior communicating arteries | Present and functioning | Redundant supply, so occlusion of the anastomosis is better tolerated |
| Mixed (often written type I plus II) | Basilar artery, both SCAs and one posterior cerebral artery; the other posterior cerebral artery comes from a patent posterior communicating artery | Present on one side | Assess each side separately before any sacrifice |
| Type III (trigeminal artery variant) | A cerebellar artery only, with no direct connection to the basilar artery: IIIa SCA, IIIb AICA, IIIc PICA | Usually present | Strictly a variant, not a true anastomosis. The AICA type is the commonest variant at 72 percent, and these are the ones that compress the trigeminal nerve |
Why MRA series proposed new classifications
Saltzman worked from catheter angiograms and did not have to account for hybrid patterns. Two MRA based schemes are worth knowing because papers cite them. Weon and colleagues re-sorted 24 trigeminal arteries into five types by the embryological type of the posterior communicating artery and by the relationship to the basilar branches, and found type 1 in 45.8 percent, type 3 in 20.8 percent and type 5b in 16.7 percent (PMID: 21969699). Uchino’s pictorial essay separates the true trigeminal artery from four trigeminal artery variants, and is the better reference for recognising the odd ones on MRA and CTA (PMID: 31214937). Komiyama proposed a cleaner three-group view: the classic carotid to basilar artery, the trigemino-cerebellar variants, and the complex hybrids in which the trigeminal artery is fused with the primitive stapedial or primitive ophthalmic artery, producing oddities such as an ophthalmic artery arising from the basilar artery (PMID: 31296065).
Persistent trigeminal artery variants
| Variant | Anatomy | Frequency among variants | Clinical note |
|---|---|---|---|
| AICA type | Cavernous internal carotid artery to the AICA territory, no basilar connection | 72.1 percent | Commonest variant. Runs through the prepontine cistern and is the usual culprit in variant related trigeminal neuralgia |
| SCA type | Cavernous internal carotid artery supplying the SCA | Second commonest | Can be mistaken for a duplicated SCA |
| PICA type | Cavernous internal carotid artery supplying the PICA | Least common | Longest intracisternal course |
| Hybrid embryonic forms | Trigeminal artery fused with the primitive stapedial or ophthalmic artery | Case reports | Explains a middle meningeal artery arising from the basilar artery, or an ophthalmic artery from the basilar artery. Critical before any middle meningeal artery embolisation |
Does a persistent trigeminal artery raise the risk of an aneurysm?
This is the most repeated error about the vessel. Early papers quoted an aneurysm prevalence of 14 to 32 percent, but those numbers came from collections of published case reports, and a trigeminal artery found next to an aneurysm is far more likely to be written up than one found on its own. When unselected patient series were counted properly the excess disappeared.
| Series | Patients with a trigeminal artery | Aneurysms | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-1999 literature reviews | Pooled case reports | 14 to 32 percent | Publication bias, not an incidence |
| Cloft 1999 (PMID 10223452) | 34 consecutive patients | About 3 percent (95 percent CI 0 to 9) | No greater than the general population |
| O’uchi 2010 (PMID 20309534) | 103 trigeminal arteries and variants on 16,415 MRAs | 4 of 103, 3.9 percent | Authors conclude the rate matches the background population |
| Weon 2011 (PMID 21969699) | 24 patients on 7,329 MRAs | 9 aneurysms in 7 patients, 29 percent | Highest figure, but the cohort was scanned because cerebrovascular disease was suspected |
What to say in a report: a trigeminal artery is not by itself an indication to screen for aneurysms. It is still worth a deliberate look at the anastomosis itself, because a true trigeminal artery aneurysm at the carotid junction or along the trunk is a distinct and dangerous entity. A systematic review of 40 published cases found a mean age of 55 years, 77 percent women, 20 ruptured, 16 presenting with compressive cranial nerve symptoms and only 4 truly incidental, and endovascular treatment succeeded in 62 percent (PMID: 31243067). A larger review of 54 studies reported complete angiographic occlusion in 88.9 percent after endovascular treatment with 5.5 percent needing retreatment, against a mortality of 12.5 percent in conservatively managed and 9.1 percent in openly operated cases (PMID: 36617952). The Saltzman type drives the strategy: preserve the parent vessel in type I, whereas parent vessel occlusion is reasonable in types II and III.
Persistent trigeminal artery and stroke: harmful or protective?
Both, and the 2025 review that gathered the evidence concluded the vessel has a genuinely dual nature (PMID: 41103974). Understanding which way it cuts in a given patient is a perfusion question, not an anatomy question.
- Protective. With an internal carotid artery occlusion, the trigeminal artery can reverse and feed the anterior circulation from the basilar artery. One reported patient with a complete carotid occlusion had only two tiny diffusion lesions and symmetrical CT perfusion because the middle and both anterior cerebral arteries were being fed through the anastomosis (PMID: 31296184).
- Harmful. In a Saltzman type I configuration the posterior circulation is carotid dependent, so carotid disease, carotid sacrifice or a balloon test occlusion can produce brainstem and occipital ischaemia rather than hemispheric ischaemia (PMID: 41782967). In situ thrombosis of the anastomosis can infarct the perforators it carries.
- A treatment target. The anastomosis is now being treated directly. Angioplasty and stenting of a stenosed trigeminal artery has been reported in acute ischaemic stroke (PMID: 40883516) and endovascular reconstruction has been used for haemodynamic vertigo from trigeminal artery stenosis, so flagging the vessel changes what the neurointerventionalist can offer.
- An access route or a trap. It can be catheterised to reach the basilar artery when the vertebral arteries are hypoplastic, and it is also a route by which particles intended for an external carotid territory reach the brainstem.
Trigeminal neuralgia and the trigeminal artery
The meta-analysis that established the 0.4 percent prevalence closes on exactly this point: the clinical relevance of the trigeminal artery and its variants is that they can cause trigeminal neuralgia, and that their course must be known before minimally invasive parasellar work (PMID: 31536812). Two practical consequences:
- In a patient with trigeminal neuralgia and no obvious superior cerebellar artery loop, look specifically for a trigeminal artery variant in the prepontine cistern and inside Meckel’s cave on thin heavily T2 weighted images. A 2026 case required an anterior transpetrosal approach to open Meckel’s cave and transpose a variant running through it, and the pain resolved completely (PMID: 42559533).
- Before a percutaneous trigeminal ganglion procedure such as glycerol rhizolysis, balloon compression or radiofrequency thermocoagulation, a lateral type trigeminal artery beside the ganglion is a hazard on the needle path. This belongs in the report, not in the footnotes.
- Contact between a vessel and the nerve is common and is not on its own the diagnosis. As with the standard neurovascular conflict, look for distortion, indentation or atrophy of the nerve at the contact point. The same rule applies as in ordinary trigeminal neuralgia imaging.
Associations worth knowing
| Association | Strength of the evidence | Practical point |
|---|---|---|
| CHARGE syndrome | 14 of 25 patients, 56 percent, against 0.4 percent in the general population (PMID 34353785) | A trigeminal artery was seen more often than 4 of the 9 established diagnostic criteria. Look for it on brain MRI in a suspected incomplete phenotype |
| Moyamoya and quasi-moyamoya disease | High incidence of persistent primitive arteries reported (PMID 10396115) | Persistent fetal channels act as an extra collateral route |
| Carotid-cavernous and trigemino-cavernous fistula | Multiple case series | A trigeminal artery aneurysm can rupture into the cavernous sinus. Suspect it in an unexplained spontaneous fistula |
| Brain arteriovenous malformation | Case reports and reviews | A trigeminal artery may be a feeder, which matters in embolisation planning |
| Other head and neck vessel variants | Common in 3 T MRA series | Hypoplastic vertebral artery, absent posterior communicating artery, an ophthalmic artery from the cavernous carotid artery and duplicated cerebellar arteries all travel with it |
| Aortic arch and carotid anomalies | 2026 imaging review (PMID 42646913) | Persistent fetal anastomoses belong to the same spectrum as carotid agenesis, aberrant petrous carotid artery and fenestrations |
Differential diagnosis: what else runs from the cavernous carotid artery to the back
The sibling anastomoses are not really differentials, because they arise at different levels and are easy to separate by origin. The real pitfalls are these.
| Mimic | How to tell it apart |
|---|---|
| Trigeminal artery variant (Saltzman III) | Terminates in a cerebellar artery and never reaches the basilar artery. Follow the vessel to its end before naming it |
| Enlarged meningohypophyseal or inferolateral trunk | Small dural branches that stay within the cavernous sinus walls and do not reach the posterior fossa. They enlarge in dural arteriovenous fistula and in meningioma |
| So-called persistent otic artery | Must arise in the lateral petrous carotid canal and pass through the internal auditory meatus. If it does not, it is a low-lying trigeminal artery or a stapedial remnant |
| Persistent hypoglossal or proatlantal artery | Arise from the cervical internal or external carotid artery, not from the cavernous segment, and pass through the hypoglossal canal or beside the atlas |
| Fetal type posterior cerebral artery | The posterior cerebral artery is fed by a large posterior communicating artery inside the circle of Willis. There is no vessel crossing to the basilar artery |
| Basilar or cavernous carotid aneurysm with a neck projecting backwards | A saccular outpouching, not a tubular vessel with a distal territory. Use thin reformats and multiple projections |
| Vertebrobasilar stenosis | A hypoplastic basilar artery below a trigeminal artery is uniformly small and smooth with no plaque, and it is the expected finding, not disease |
How to report a persistent trigeminal artery
- Name it: an anomalous artery arising from the cavernous segment of the (right or left) internal carotid artery and joining the basilar artery, consistent with a persistent trigeminal artery.
- Give the Salas type, medial (sphenoidal) or lateral (petrosal), because this is what the skull base surgeon needs.
- Give the Saltzman type and state plainly whether the distal posterior circulation is carotid dependent.
- Describe the proximal basilar artery and the vertebral arteries, and say that a small proximal basilar artery is developmental rather than stenotic.
- Say whether the posterior communicating arteries are present, since they determine the collateral reserve.
- Look at the anastomosis itself and at the carotid junction for an aneurysm or a fistula, and say you looked.
- If the vessel runs in Meckel’s cave or the prepontine cistern, say so and state whether it contacts or deforms the trigeminal nerve.
- Add a caution line when a transsphenoidal, percutaneous trigeminal or endovascular procedure is planned or likely.
Treatment
- An incidental trigeminal artery needs no treatment, no follow-up imaging and no aneurysm screening.
- Treat the complication, not the variant: coiling, flow diversion or parent vessel occlusion for a trigeminal artery aneurysm, transvenous or transarterial embolisation for a trigemino-cavernous fistula, microvascular decompression or transposition for neuralgia, and angioplasty with stenting for symptomatic stenosis.
- In Saltzman type I keep the anastomosis patent, because it is the posterior circulation. In types II and III the vessel can usually be sacrificed.
- Flag it explicitly before endoscopic endonasal pituitary surgery, a percutaneous trigeminal ganglion procedure, carotid sacrifice or balloon test occlusion, and middle meningeal artery embolisation.
Etymology and synonyms
The vessel is named for its company, not its function: it runs beside the trigeminal ganglion (Gasserian ganglion) and the fifth cranial nerve. Gunnar Saltzman studied it by cerebral angiography in 1959 and gave us the classification still in use. Synonyms in the literature include persistent primitive trigeminal artery, PPTA, PTA, primitive trigeminal artery, trigeminal artery variant (PTAV) and, loosely, carotid-basilar anastomosis. It belongs to the wider group of persistent carotid-vertebrobasilar anastomoses, which is also written carotid-basilar anastomoses.
Frequently asked questions
References
Single best review article
- El Choueiri J, Pellicano F, De Rossi L, et al. Persistent primitive trigeminal artery in stroke: a review and clinical insights. AIMS Neurosci. 2025;12(3):434-443. PMID: 41103974.
Prevalence, anatomy and classification
- Brzegowy K, Pekala PA, Zarzecki MP, et al. Prevalence and clinical implications of the primitive trigeminal artery and its variants: a meta-analysis. World Neurosurg. 2020;133:e401-e411. PMID: 31536812.
- O’uchi E, O’uchi T. Persistent primitive trigeminal arteries (PTA) and its variant (PTAV): analysis of 103 cases detected in 16,415 cases of MRA over 3 years. Neuroradiology. 2010;52(12):1111-1119. PMID: 20309534.
- Weon YC, Choi SH, Hwang JC, Shin SH, Kwon WJ, Kang BS. Classification of persistent primitive trigeminal artery (PPTA): a reconsideration based on MRA. Acta Radiol. 2011;52(9):1043-1051. PMID: 21969699.
- Salas E, Ziyal IM, Sekhar LN, Wright DC. Persistent trigeminal artery: an anatomic study. Neurosurgery. 1998;43(3):557-561. PMID: 9733310.
- Uchino A. Carotid-vertebrobasilar anastomosis: magnetic resonance and computed tomographic angiographic demonstration. Jpn J Radiol. 2019;37(8):565-578. PMID: 31214937.
- Komiyama M. Persistent trigeminal artery and its variants. Interv Neuroradiol. 2019;25(6):635-637. PMID: 31296065.
- Uchino A, Saito N, Okada Y, et al. Persistent hypoglossal artery and its variants diagnosed by CT and MR angiography. Neuroradiology. 2013;55(1):17-23. PMID: 22821359.
- Luh GY, Dean BL, Tomsick TA, Wallace RC. The persistent fetal carotid-vertebrobasilar anastomoses. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1999;172(5):1427-1432. PMID: 10227532.
- Battal B, Zamora C. Congenital anomalies and variations of the carotid and vertebral arteries: a case-based imaging review. Tomography. 2026;12(8):111. PMID: 42646913.
- Prasad K, Sharma A. Angiographic tau sign in persistent trigeminal artery. Neurol India. 2014;62(5):580-581. PMID: 25387648.
- Patel AB, Gandhi CD, Bederson JB. Angiographic documentation of a persistent otic artery. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2003;24(1):124-126. PMID: 12533340.
- Saltzman GF. Patent primitive trigeminal artery studied by cerebral angiography. Acta Radiol. 1959;51:329-336.
Aneurysms, stroke and treatment
- Cloft HJ, Razack N, Kallmes DF. Prevalence of cerebral aneurysms in patients with persistent primitive trigeminal artery. J Neurosurg. 1999;90(5):865-867. PMID: 10223452.
- Diana F, Mangiafico S, Valente V, et al. Persistent trigeminal artery aneurysms: case report and systematic review. J Neurointerv Surg. 2019;11(12):1261-1265. PMID: 31243067.
- Sreenivasan S, Agarwal N, Roychowdhury S, et al. Management paradigms of persistent primitive trigeminal artery aneurysms: a systematic review and analysis of techniques and complications from the 1960s to 2022. Interv Neuroradiol. 2026;32(3):648-656. PMID: 36617952.
- Wang Y, Yu J. Clinical importance of the persistent primitive trigeminal artery in vascular lesions and its role in endovascular treatment. Front Neurol. 2022;13:928608. PMID: 35899260.
- Patel PA, Rueda L, Oei M, Giurgiutiu DV. Angioplasty and stenting of persistent primitive trigeminal artery stenosis in acute ischemic stroke. Clin Neuroradiol. 2026;36(1):247-250. PMID: 40883516.
- Xu Y, Kong Y, Xu Y, Wang P. The protective effect of persistent trigeminal artery in patients with ischemic stroke. BMC Neurol. 2019;19(1):158. PMID: 31296184.
- D’Arma GMA, et al. Persistent primitive trigeminal artery with carotid-dependent posterior circulation: an incidental but clinically relevant discovery. Radiol Case Rep. 2026;21(4):2120-2125. PMID: 41782967.
Surgical and neuralgia implications
- Shen J, Tourje J, Chang EE, Mamelak AN, Wu AW. Persistent trigeminal artery in endonasal resection of skull base tumors: a systematic review. J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2016;77(6):449-455. PMID: 27857870.
- Sho T, Segawa M, Inoue T, et al. Microvascular decompression through an anterior transpetrosal approach for trigeminal neuralgia caused by persistent primitive trigeminal artery variant traversing Meckel’s cave. Surg Neurol Int. 2026;17:402. PMID: 42559533.
- Siddiqui A, Touska P, Josifova D, Connor SEJ. Persistent trigeminal artery: a novel imaging finding in CHARGE syndrome. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2021;42(10):1898-1903. PMID: 34353785.
- Komiyama M, Nakajima H, Nishikawa M, Yasui T. High incidence of persistent primitive arteries in moyamoya and quasi-moyamoya diseases. Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo). 1999;39(6):416-420. PMID: 10396115.
Related reading on RadioGyan: trigeminal neuralgia imaging covers the neurovascular conflict this vessel can imitate, and brain arterial vascular territories shows the territories at stake when the posterior circulation is carotid dependent.
Case co-authored by TeamGyan Member Dr Mansi Sarmalkar, edited by Dr. Bhargavi Sovani. Reviewed, corrected and expanded 2026.
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