Microangioarchitecture of the feline spinal cord. Three-dimensional observation of blood vessel corrosion casts by scanning electron microscopy.
The microangioarchitecture of corrosion casts of the cat spinal cord was studied by scanning electron microscopy. On the ventral surface of the spinal cord, the anterior spinal artery and the anterior spinal vein ran parallel along the anterior median fissure. Many central arteries branching from the anterior spinal artery coursed in a wavelike manner in the anterior median fissure. The number of central arteries was lowest in the thoracic spinal cord. Central arteries at some spinal cord levels revealed well-developed anastomoses with other central arteries in the anterior median fissure. These well-developed anastomotic central arteries were frequently observed in the thoracic spinal cord, in which the number of central arteries was lowest. On the dorsal surface of the spinal cord, the posterior spinal vein ran longitudinally at the midline and was drained by circumferential veins and posterior central veins. This vein formed a characteristic anastomotic plexus. Small arterioles (20 microns in diameter) in the spinal parenchyma revealed a ring-like compression at the branching site.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000648:ultrastructure