Slavka Flesarova

By David Mazensky and Slavka Flesarova

Spinal cord ischemia belongs to the one of the most frequently occurring results of spinal cord damage, with broad range of several symptoms and complications. The superficial position of fine arterial system of the spinal cord predicts the spinal cord ischemic injury. The laboratory animals, such as rabbits and guinea pigs, serve for the study of spinal cord ischemic injury. The aim of this work was to describe the arterial blood supply to the spinal cord in New Zealand White rabbits and English self guinea pigs, using the corrosion and dissecting technique. In both species, we found variations in arrangement and origin of segmental arteries of descending aorta, the basilar artery, the ventral spinal artery, the dorsal spinal arteries, the artery of Adamkiewicz, and the segmental dorsal and ventral branches arising from the arterial spinal branches. The presence of the artery of Adamkiewicz and nearly regular segmental blood supply to the spinal cord are responsible for the use of rabbit and guinea pig as a simple model of ischemic damage to the spinal cord. The understanding of the arterial arrangement to the spinal cord plays a very important role in avoiding the spinal cord ischemia or infarction during surgical interventions to the spine.

Part of the book: Ischemic Stroke

By Slavka Flesarova and David Mazensky

Several animal models exist to examine physiological and functional changes after the spinal cord injury with aim to explain knowledge about the spinal cord injury in human. Before the appropriate animal model is chosen, many aspects must be considered to eliminate the wrong interpretation of the results. The knowledge of the arterial blood supply to the spinal cord is very important in planning the procedures of the spinal cord treatment as well as in animal experiments. As the literature on the topic is disarranged, the aim of this review is to summarize the available literature into one coherent format. This chapter compares the arterial spinal cord blood supply of the frequently used species (pig, dog, cat, rabbit and rat) in experimental spinal cord injury and in human. A complete understanding of the anatomy of the arterial blood supply to the spinal cord is critical for the anatomists and clinicians to determinate the advantages and disadvantages of each animal model for next studies.

Part of the book: Human Anatomy