Quick Facts
Origin: Internal carotid artery.
Course: Extends posteriorly to the posterior cerebral artery.
Branches: Posterolateral central and tuberothalamic arteries, artery of tuber cinereum, mammillary, hypothalamic, and chiasmatic branches; branch to oculomotor nerve.
Supplied Structures: Mammillary bodies and the premammillary area, the tuber cinereum, optic chiasm, hypothalamus, oculomotor nerve, medial thalamic surface, and wall of third ventricle.
Origin
The posterior communicating artery is a short artery arising from the intracranial part of the internal carotid artery.
Course
The posterior communicating artery extends posteriorly, passing above the oculomotor nerve (CN III) and joins the posterior cerebral artery. This arrangement forms part of the cerebral arterial circle, or the circle of Willis.
The posterior communicating artery is usually quite small, however, when its enlarged, it supplies the posterior cerebral artery rather than the basilar artery.
Branches
The posterior communicating artery has numerous small rami. These include the posteromedial central and tuberothalamic arteries, the artery of tuber cinereum, the mammillary, hypothalamic, and chiasmatic branches, and a branch to oculomotor nerve.
Supplied Structures
The posterior communicating artery supplies the mammillary bodies and the premammillary area, the tuber cinereum, optic chiasm, hypothalamus, oculomotor nerve, medial thalamic surface, and wall of the third ventricle.
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Posterior Communicating Artery
The posterior communicating artery (PCoA) is one of the most common sites for cerebral aneurysms overall and the most common aneurysm location of the ICA (Clarke, Mendelow, & Mitchell, 2005).
