Morphological analysis of the vertebral and basilar arteries in the Chinese population provides greater diagnostic accuracy of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia and reveals gender differences

Previous studies suggest that cerebral artery diameter and position differ with both gender and ethnicity, making diagnosis of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) difficult. Thus, the current study investigated the morphology and potential gender differences of the vertebral (VA) and basilar arteries (BA) in the Chinese population. The data collected also enabled some criteria to be suggested for the diagnosis of VBD by MRI. A total of 200 healthy participants who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were enrolled. The diameters of the BA and VA were measured using high resolution MRI and the height of the basilar artery bifurcation and the position of the basilar artery were also analyzed. The 95 % confident intervals (CI) of vessel diameter were calculated. The diameters of each artery measured, significantly differed with gender (p < 0.01). The 95 % CI of the BA were 2.2-4.2 mm and 2.0-4.0 mm for males and females, respectively. The 95 % CI of the VA were 1.7-3.7 mm and 1.5-3.5 mm for males, and 1.4-3.4 mm and 1.1-3.1 mm for females for the left and right side, respectively. No significant gender difference was found in height of the BA bifurcation or the position of the BA. There are significant gender differences in the diameter of both the VA and BA, indicating that gender needs to be considered in the diagnosis of VBD. These results also provide much needed quantitative data for the diagnosis of VBD in Chinese people.