Association of incompleteness of the anterior part of the circle of Willis with the occurrence of lacunes in the basal ganglia

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study investigated whether incompleteness of the anterior part of the circle of Willis affects the occurrence of lacunes in the basal ganglia. METHODS: One thousand and seventy-seven healthy individuals examined by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and MR angiography were divided into eight subgroups according to our new classification. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that healthy individuals with incompleteness of the anterior circle of Willis had significantly higher frequency of lacunes [odds ratio (OR): 2.121, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.477-3.108; or OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.377-4.384 in cases without or with fetal type posterior communicating artery, respectively] and higher numbers of lacunes (P < 0.001 or P < 0.001 in cases without or with fetal type posterior communicating artery, respectively) compared to patients with complete circle of Willis. CONCLUSIONS: Incompleteness of the anterior part of the circle of Willis significantly affected the occurrence of lacunes.