Bilateral infraoptic anterior cerebral artery associated with de novo aneurysm formation over a 10-year period: illustrative case

Description

Hepzibha Alexander, Ammar Alsalahi, and Chad Claus published this case report in 2025. The anterior cerebral artery, which feeds the front of the brain, normally branches upward from a standard route. Rarely it takes an infraoptic path, arising low near the eye artery instead. Only about fifty-five cases exist in the literature, and just twenty on both sides. The patient was a fifty-five-year-old woman with that bilateral variant.

Angiography showed both arteries arising from the low segment, with the usual first segment thin on each side. Over ten years, an aneurysm grew on the right-sided variant vessel, while the left showed only a small funnel widening. The authors suspect the abnormal route stirs turbulent flow that weakens the wall over time. They recommend interval scans to watch such patients for new aneurysms. They also warn surgeons to recognize the variant beforehand.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC12721117