The Arteries Within a Section of the Spinal Cord

Description

Cut through in transverse section, the spinal cord parenchyma is shown with the anterior spinal artery tracking along the ventral median fissure and paired posterior spinal arteries coursing on the dorsolateral surface near the posterior (dorsal) root entry zones. Small penetrating arterioles extend from these longitudinal trunks into the cord substance, aligning with the usual sulcal and pial perforators that supply the anterior horn and adjacent white matter. Dorsal columns lie posteriorly, while the ventral horns and anterior funiculi occupy the anterior half. Orientation is clean. This arrangement matters because the anterior spinal artery territory accounts for most of the cord’s metabolic demand, so occlusion produces the classic anterior spinal artery syndrome with motor deficits and loss of pain and temperature, often sparing dorsal column modalities. The posterior spinal arteries and their pial plexus better preserve proprioception and vibration unless the lesion involves the dorsal columns or posterior perforators, a pattern clinicians correlate with aortic surgery complications, hypotensive cord infarction, or selective vascular malformations. Vascular anatomy is the map. Use this artwork for neuroanatomy and neuropathology teaching when you need a straightforward correlation between arterial supply and tract-level deficits, or for textbooks and slide decks covering spinal cord infarction, vascular myelopathy, and pial versus sulcal perforator concepts. It also suits neurosurgical and interventional radiology materials introducing the longitudinal spinal arteries before discussing radiculomedullary feeders such as the artery of Adamkiewicz. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.