The head structures are supplied by the common
carotid artery (A. carotis communis), one of the main
arteries of the body. In domestic mammals, except in
some species, the common carotid artery branches at
the base of the head, behind the curved ramus of the
mandible, into three terminals represented by the ex-
ternal carotid artery (A. carotis externa), internal ca-
rotid artery (A. carotis interna) and the occipital artery
(A. occipitalis) (3, 6). Of these, the most developed
branch is the external carotid artery, which distributes
through many branches to most parts of the head. The
internal carotid artery and the occipital artery supply
the brain especially and the anterior part of the spinal
cord (15, 21, 22).
The branching mode and the areas supplied by the
common carotid artery terminals show some morpho-
logical interspecific differences and also, between the
animals of the same species. The investigations of this
study had the goal to obtain comparative images of
the arterial vascularization in the head of rabbits using
complementary methods in order to describe the ana-
tomical peculiarities. To this end, the real anatomy was
analysed using dissection, we subsequently used ima-
gistic methods represented by the arterial angiogra-
phy and computerized tomography (CT) with contrast
substance. The research was carried out on 12 ani-
mals, both males and females. The main peculiarities
observed were: the variable detachment of the occi-
pital artery, being emitted by the external or internal
carotid artery, the separated detachment of the facial
and lingual artery from the external carotid artery, the
development of the superficial temporal trunk, of the
posterior auricular artery and of the transverse artery
of the face. The imagistic investigations have con-
firmed the results, latero-lateral arteriography sho-
wing in particular the branching mode of the common
carotid artery and the branches of the external carotid
artery, while, the dorso-ventral and ventro-dorsal ar-
teriography showed the distribution peculiarities of
the brain arteries. Imagistic details of the pathway of
the big arteries were obtained using CT technique.
Since the description of the vascular anatomy in small
species is more difficult using classic methods, the use
of the imagistic methods can offer additional data with
practical applicability, especially in the field of the ex-
perimental medicine.
Keywords: head arteries, rabbit, dissection,
arteriography, computerized tomography
Modul de ramificare și teritoriul deservit de termi-
nalele arterei carotide comune prezintă unele dife-
rențe morfologice inter-specii, dar și de la un individ la
altul din cadrul aceleiași specii. Investigațiile întreprin-
se în acest studiu au avut ca obiectiv obținerea unor
imagini comparative asupra vascularizației arteriale a
capului la iepure prin metode complementare de anali-
ză pentru evidențierea particularităților morfologice.
În acest scop, după descrierea morfologiei reale s-a
recurs la utilizarea tehnicilor de imagistică, respectiv
angiografie arterială și tomografie computerizată (CT)
cu substanță de contrast, cercetările efectuându-se pe
un număr de 12 animale. Principalele particularități
morfologice observate au fost desprinderea arterei
occipitale din artera carotidă externă sau internă, des-
prinderea separată a arterei linguale și faciale, dezvol-
tarea trunchiului temporal superficial, a arterei auricu-
lare posterioare și arterei transverse a feței. Investi-
gațiile imagistice au confirmat rezultatele obținute, ar-
teriografia latero-laterală evidențiind cu precădere
modul de ramificare a carotidei comune și distribuția
arterei carotide externe, in timp ce arteriografia dor-
so-ventrală și cea ventro-dorsală a permis observarea
particularităților distribuției arteriale la nivelul encefa-
lului. Detalii imagistice privind traseul marilor vase au
fost obținute prin utilizarea tehnicii CT. Întrucât la spe-
ciile de talie mică este mai dificilă descrierea morfolo-
giei vasculare prin metode clasice, utilizarea metode-
lor imagistice poate oferi date suplimentare cu aplica-
bilitate practică, în special în domeniul medicinei expe-
rimentale.
Cuvinte cheie: arterele capului, iepure, disecție,
arteriografie, computer tomograf
COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL AND IMAGISTIC ASPECTS
OF THE ARTERIAL VASCULARIZATION OF THE HEAD IN DOMESTIC RABBITS
ASPECTE COMPARATIVE DE MORFOLOGIE REALĂ ȘI IMAGISTICĂ
ALE VASCULARIZAȚIEI ARTERIALE A CAPULUI LA IEPURE
1),*) 1)C. T. COVAȘĂ , V. VULPE
Rev Rom Med Vet (2019) 29 | 4: 67-72 67
ISSN: 1220-3173; E-ISSN: 2457-7618
1) University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”Ion Ionescu de la Brad”, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Iasi, Romania*) Corresponding author: [email protected]
68 Rev Rom Med Vet (2019) 29 | 4
The detailed knowledge of the arterial vascula-
rization of the head is a necessity because of the im-
portance of the vascular pathology of the head and its
impact on the body health.
The rodents represent a distinct group of mam-
mals which presents various peculiarities of the ske-
leton, muscles, internal organs and also the circulato-
ry system (10, 23, 25, 26).
Although the studies on the vascular morphology
in the rabbit are relatively rare, some of them showed
many intraspecific variations regarding the origin and
the distribution area of some arteries, like the case of
the brachiocephalic trunk, subclavian artery and o-
thers (1, 2, 4, 13, 18). Similarly, other studies have
highlighted a large variability of the distribution area
of the common carotid artery and its branches at the
level of the head (5, 16, 17). Most of the studies on the
brain vascularization in rabbits were performed for ex-
perimental purposes. From this point of view, the rab-
bit represents one of the species with a high degree of
usage for experimental models in many fields (8).
Such animals are used for physiopathology studies,
hemodynamic studies, surgical and endovascular
technique. Often, these animals are used for the expe-
rimental studies of the saccular aneurysm or the
ischemic stroke. In the last period, the rabbits (Ory-
ctolagus cuniculus) have become the favourable ani-
mals for this kind of studies because their coagulation
mechanism is similar with that of the human (11, 12,
19, 20). Most of these studies are based on various
imagistic methods of investigation. In this regard, in
accordance with other studies (9, 24, 27), for impro-
ving the knowledge on the arterial morphology of the
rabbit head, we consider that, besides the dissection,
the usage of the imagistic techniques can help the des-
cription of the anatomical peculiarities and can offer
additional data on this species with practical applica-
bility.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The research was carried out on 12 domestic rab-
bits, adults, both sexes, 8 males and 4 females, aged
1-3 years.
Anaesthesia was performed before slaughtering
the rabbits. Firstly, for the description of the real mor-
phology, a gelatine suspension colored with Chinese
India ink was injected inside the common carotid ar-
teries. After that, the dissection was performed to
high-light the branches of distribution. For pictures,
we used the Olimpus x25 Camera.
To complete the description, we used the imagis-
tic techniques, angiography and CT examination, res-
pectively. Arterial angiography of the head was carried
out on 4 animals. For this purpose, the inside of the
common carotid artery was injected with a contrasting
substance in a variable volume, 3-5 ml. The contras-TMting substance used was the Omnipaque , and after
the injection we obtained the radiographic images. For
examination, we used the latero-lateral profile, the
dorso-ventral and ventro-dorsal one. Also, unilateral
examinations were performed on the sagittal sections
of the head.
The detailed aspect of the arterial vascularization
in the head of rabbits was analysed using the CT scan-
ning technology with a contrasting substance. The ani-
mals were subjected to the scans using the Siemens
SOMATOM CT Apparatus, Emotion 16-slice configura-
tion, the sections being performed at a plan of 0.5 mm.
The obtained images were examined in a compa-
rative way to analyse as completely as possible the
morphological details. To describe these aspects, we
used the terms in accordance with the NAV, Sixth Edi-
tion, 2017 (14).
RESULTS AND DISSCUTIONS
The previous research (7), including this study,
has shown that, after the detachment of the cranial
thyroid artery (A.thyroidea cranialis), the common ca-
rotid artery (A. carotis communis) ends with the exter-
nal carotid artery and internal carotid artery, the occipi-
tal artery being a branch of one of these two. In accor-
dance with the data in the field (1, 2, 16, 17), in the ani-
mals examined displayed a variability of the detach-
ment of the occipital artery. Thus, 7 animals exhibited
the detachment of the occipital artery from the internal
carotid artery, close or very close to its origin. In 4 ani-
mals, we observed the detachment of the occipital ar-
tery from the external carotid artery, close to its origin.
In addition to the occipital artery when appropri-
ate, the main collaterals of the external carotid artery
are represented by the lingual artery (A. lingualis) and
facial artery (A.facialis), separately detached and then
ending with the maxillary artery (A.maxillaris) and the
superficial temporal trunk (A. temporalis superficialis).
The research described the possibility of common or
separate detachments of the facial artery and the su-
perficial temporal trunk (9). The superficial temporal
trunk, with a sinuous trajectory (7), emits the posterior
auricular artery (A. auricularis caudalis) and ends with
the transverse artery of the face (A. transversa faciei)
Rev Rom Med Vet (2019) 29 | 4 69
and the anterior auricular artery (A. auricularis rostra-
lis). All the terminal branches of the superficial tempo-
ral trunk are developed, distinguishing the posterior
auricular artery which ramifies at the level of the auri-
cular concha after the detachment of the deep auricular
artery (A. auricularis profunda).
The main branches of the maxillary artery are re-
presented by the alveolomandibular artery (A. alveo-
laris inferior), buccal artery (A. buccalis), middle me-
ningeal artery (A. meningea media), external ophthal-
mic artery (A. ophtalmica externa), infraorbital artery
(A. infraorbitalis) and major palatin artery (A. palatina
major) (Fig. 1.)
The latero-lateral arterial angiography (Fig. 2, Fig.
3) highlights the terminal branches of the common ca-
rotid artery (CC), together with its main branches in re-
lation to the osseous substrate. Also, one can observe
the path of the alveolomandibular (AM) artery inside of
70 Rev Rom Med Vet (2019) 29 | 4
the alveolomandibular canal, of the major palatin ar-
tery (MP), the inside of the palatin canal and palatin
groove, the infraorbital artery (IF), the inside of the
infraorbital canal, the sinuous path of the lingual artery,
the inside of the lingual body and apex, the buccal arte-
ry (B), the branches of the external ophthalmic artery
(EO) - the ethmoidal artery (E) and frontal artery (F).
Some branches of the facial artery (F) can be seen: the
sublingual artery (S) having a sinuous trajectory, and
the labiomaxillary artery (LMX). The pathway of the oc-
cipital artery (O) is highlighted towards the atlas wing
and that of the internal carotid artery (IC) towards and
inside of the cranial cavity.
By the dorso-ventral angiography (Fig. 4) and
particularly the ventro-dorsal angiography (Fig. 5, Fig.
6) we aimed to analyse especially the brain vasculari-
zation. It allows an overview of the intracranial path of
the internal carotid arteries (IC) with their cranial
(CRIC) and caudal (CDIC) branches and their contri-
bution to the formation of the Circle of Willis (WC). It is
highlighted the anastomosis of the vertebral (V) and
occipital (O) arteries and the formation of the first spi-
nal nerve arteries (FSN); from their anastomosis, ros-
trally results the basilar artery (B) and the middle spi-
nal artery, caudally. The basilar artery, placed in the
median plan, ends at the level of the Circle of Willis.
The main branches detached from the Willis Circle are
represented by the superior cerebellar arteries (SC)
and the posterior cerebral arteries (PC).
The ventro-dorsal angiography also facilitates the
observation of the pathway of these branches of the
external carotid artery: the lingual artery (L), maxilla-
ry artery (M) in the alar duct, the posterior auricular
artery (PA), the anterior auricular artery (AA), the
transverse artery of the face (TAF), the labiomaxillary
artery (LMX) and labiomandibulary artery (LMB).
The CT examination revealed the main arteries in
relation to the neighboring tissues, the most relevant
aspects being obtained in the transversal plan, espe-
cially in those sections between the middle and caudal
third of the head, corresponding to the cranial cavity,
the blood vessels being positioned symmetrically. The
arteries which can be tracked are: the lingual arteries,
Rev Rom Med Vet (2019) 29 | 4 71
the facial arteries, the maxillary arteries, the internal
carotid arteries, the middle and anterior cerebral arte-
ries, the infraorbital arteries (Fig. 7, Fig. 8).
The images in the sagittal and horizontal plan pro-
vided data especially for the pathway of the maxillary
arteries (Fig. 9, Fig. 10).
CONCLUSIONS
The vascular morphology represents a field which
requires many investigations, the small animals being
preferred due to their accessibility. In addition to the
classic methods for morphological investigations, the
72 Rev Rom Med Vet (2019) 29 | 4
modern methods, like the imagistic ones, can be suc-
cessfully used to observe the peculiarities of a struc-
ture including the variation of arterial branches, which
in the case of the rabbit revealed many differences.
The elucidations of some peculiarities of the vascu-
larization using complementary methods is morphologi-
cally important, but also clinically, the rabbit being one
of the most used species to investigate some vascular
pathogenetic mechanisms, especially for the head.
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