Middle cerebral arteries

Middle cerebral artery
Outer surface of cerebral hemisphere, showing areas supplied by cerebral arteries. (Pink is region supplied by middle cerebral artery.)
The arterial circle and arteries of the brain. The middle cerebral arteries (top of figure) arise from the internal carotid arteries.
Details
Source	internal carotid arteries
Branches	anterolateral central arteries
Vein	middle cerebral vein
Supplies	cerebrum
Identifiers
Latin	arteria cerebri media
Dorlands /Elsevier	a_61/12153812
TA	A12.2.07.046
FMA	50079
Anatomical terminology []

The middle cerebral artery (MCA) is one of the three major paired arteries that supply blood to the cerebrum. The MCA arises from the internal carotid and continues into the lateral sulcus where it then branches and projects to many parts of the lateral cerebral cortex. It also supplies blood to the anterior temporal lobes and the insular cortices.

The left and right MCAs rise from trifurcations of the internal carotid arteries and thus are connected to the anterior cerebral arteries and the posterior communicating arteries, which connect to the posterior cerebral arteries. The MCAs are not considered a part of the Circle of Willis.

The middle cerebral artery can be classified into 4 parts:

The M2 and M3 segments may each split into 2 or 3 main trunks (terminal branches) with an upper trunk, lower trunk and occasionally a middle trunk. Bifurcations and trifurcations occurs in 50% and 25% of the cases respectively. Other cases include duplication of the MCA at the internal carotid artery (ICA) or an accessory MCA (AccMCA) which arise not from the ICA but as a branch from the anterior cerebral artery. The middle trunk that exist in parts of the population, when present provides the pre-Rolandic, Rolandic, anterior parietal, posterior parietal and the angular artery for irrigation instead of the upper and lower trunks.

The branches (ramus) of the MCA can be described by the areas that they irrigate.

Areas supplied by the middle cerebral artery include:

MCA occlusion site and resulting Aphasia

Occlusion of the middle cerebral artery results in Middle cerebral artery syndrome, potentially showing the following defects: