anterior spinal artery

Running longitudinally down the front of the spinal cord, the anterior spinal artery supplies the anterior portion of the cord. It arises from branches of the vertebral arteries in the upper cervical region and courses along the anterior aspect of the cord, where its calibre is reinforced along the way by the anterior segmental medullary arteries. Among those reinforcing vessels is the artery of Adamkiewicz, the largest of the anterior segmental medullary contributions. This arrangement means the vessel is not a single uninterrupted trunk fed only from above: its territory depends on segmental inflow entering at intervals along the vertebral column. The Terminologia entry records it as the anterior medial spinal artery, and it belongs to the wider group of spinal arteries.