The embryological development of the cerebral vasculature is very complex. Historical and also more recent studies based on human embryos, comparative anatomy and cerebral angiographies allowed us to better understand this vasculature development. The knowledge and understanding of such embryological development are important for physicians interested in neurovascular pathologies. Indeed, all vascular variants and almost all vascular pathologies, such as aneurysms, dolichoectasia, atherosclerosis, and neurovascular conflicts could be explained by an alteration during the embryological life. There are also many variants of these vascular structures present in normal developed adults, which are variably associated with pathological entities. Understanding the process which leads to the development of the normal cerebral arterial system in humans is, therefore, very important to have a better knowledge of the possible clinical and surgical implications of these anomalies. In this paper, we review the embryological development of the cranio-facial arterial vasculature from its beginning at approximately days 21–50 of intrauterine life, with pictures illustrating each developmental phase.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.