What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to explore the relationship between circle of Willis variants and cerebral blood flow metrics in older adults.

March 14, 2026Open Access

Posterior communicating artery variation is linked to compromised cerebral hemodynamics in middle-aged and older adults

Key Points

This research aims to explore the relationship between circle of Willis variants and cerebral blood flow metrics in older adults.
Participants in the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project underwent magnetic resonance angiography and arterial spin labeling.
Cerebral artery variants and resting cerebral blood flow were assessed in 390 aging adults.
Linear regression models adjusted for demographic and health-related factors.
Absence of posterior communicating arteries linked to decreased occipital lobe cerebral blood flow.
Bilateral absence of posterior communicating arteries associated with lower global, parietal, and occipital lobe blood flow.
Findings indicate that common circle of Willis variants influence cerebral perfusion characteristics.

Abstract

We investigate whether common circle of Willis (CoW) variants relate to cerebral blood flow (CBF) characteristics among aging adults. Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project participants free of clinical stroke (n = 390, 71 ± 8 years, 55% male) completed magnetic resonance angiography to assess cerebral artery variants and pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling to quantify resting CBF and spatial coefficient of variation (sCoV), a marker of perfusion heterogeneity or stability. Linear regression models related categorical variants to regional CBF and sCoV, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, cognitive status, Framingham Stroke Risk Profile, and APOE-ε4 status. Absence of at least one posterior communicating artery (PcoA) related to lower occipital lobe CBF (p = 0.001) and higher global (p = 0.003), temporal (p = 0.001), and occipital lobe sCoV (p = 0.01). Bilateral PcoA absence related to lower global (p = 0.01), parietal (p = 0.01), and occipital lobe CBF (p = 0.0001) and higher global (p p p = 0.0003). Hypoplastic and fetal-type variants did not relate to outcomes (p > 0.22). Findings demonstrate that missing PcoAs influence both perfusion magnitude and efficiency, suggesting that common CoW variants may produce regionally coherent hemodynamic effects in heart-healthy aging adults and represent markers of early cerebrovascular vulnerability.

Read Full Paperexternally

Bookmark

View Full Paper

Cite This Study

Cambronero et al. (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69b4ba2718185d8a39802dfb https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678x261424053

Bookmark

View Full Paper