The aim of this study was to provide detailed information about the arterial vascularization of the splenium of the corpus callosum (CC). The splenium is unique in that it is part of the largest commissural tract in the brain and a region in which pathologies are seen frequently. An exact description of the arterial vascularization of this part of the CC remains under debate. Thirty adult human brains (60 hemispheres) were obtained from routine autopsies. Cerebral arteries were separately cannulated and injected with colored latex. Then, the brains were fixed in formaldehyde, and dissections were performed using a surgical microscope. The diameter of the arterial branches supplying the splenium of the CC at their origin was investigated, and the vascularization patterns of these branches were observed. Vascular supply to the splenium was provided by the anterior pericallosal artery (40%) from the anterior circulation and by the posterior pericallosal artery (88%) and posterior accessory pericallosal artery (50%) from the posterior circulation. The vascularization pattern of the splenium differs in each hemisphere and is usually supplied by multiple branches. The arterial vascularization of the splenium of the CC was studied comprehensively considering the ongoing debate and the inadequacy of the studies on this issue currently available in the literature. This anatomical knowledge is essential during the treatment of pathologies in this region and especially for splenial arteriovenous malformations.

In a 42 year-old male cadaver, the left testicular artery was found to originate from the anterior surface of the abdominal aorta at the level of origin of the left renal artery. It ran parallel and just inferior to the left renal artery and gave off a branch which supplied the left suprarenal gland. The course, relations and branching of this suprarenal branch differed from the very rare cases found in the literature. Awareness of the possible existence of such variations of the testicular arteries is of great importance during surgical procedures.

This anatomical knowledge may be helpful for surgical treatment of pathologies of the PG, especially in children who develop more pathology in this region than adults.

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