Objective: The objective of the present work was to study the anatomical variations of the circle of Willis as regard its component vessels and their average diameters in a sample of adult Egyptians and to detect any sex-related differences in these variations.
Material and Methods: One hundred and twenty adult patients were observed (60 males and 60 females). They all had problems unrelated to any ischemic or vascular diseases, so they were considered as healthy control, concerning the morphology of the circle of Willis. In addition, ten cadavers' brains were obtained from the Anatomy department, Faculty of Medicine Ain Shams University for examination of the circle of Willis and for detection of any variations.
Results: The anatomical variations of the anterior part, posterior part and completeness of the circle were inspected. Also, the diameters of all component vessels were assessed.
The results indicated that, the anterior part of the circle was completed in 70% males and 75% females of the study sample. No statistically significant difference was detected between sexes. The most common variant of the anterior part was the single anterior communicating artery followed by the hypoplastic or absent anterior communicating artery.
The posterior part of the circle was completed in 44% males and 58% females. The most common variant was the bilateral posterior communicating arteries, followed by the unilateral posterior communicating artery. An entirely complete circle was found only in 45% of the entire population; and it was higher in the females than the in males. The vessels diameters were smaller in the females than in the males, except for the diameter of the posterior communicating artery. Cadavers' examination revealed six cases with complete circle, 3 cases of unilateral fetal posterior communicating and one case of absent posterior communicating artery.
Conclusion: The present study showed the amazing great variability of the anatomy of the circle of Willis in asymptomatic persons. Nevertheless, there were no marked differences between both sexes in most of the components and the mean diameters of the circle. Therefore, these anatomical variations have to be considered during radiological interpretation and would be reported in the current anatomy text to be aware of all these normal variations.