Lateral frontobasal artery

At a glance

English

Lateral frontobasal artery

Latin (TA2)

Arteria frontobasalis lateralis

System

Artery

Region

Head

Side

Paired, left and right

About the lateral frontobasal artery

The lateral frontobasal artery, also called the lateral orbitofrontal artery, is often the first cortical branch of the superior trunk of the middle cerebral artery. It may instead leave the end of the first segment, near the limen insulae, where early temporal branches can arise before it.

It runs forwards and outwards along the underside of the frontal lobe, beneath the frontal operculum. Its branches spread over the lateral part of the orbital gyri and the orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus, and some reach the lower part of the triangular part of that gyrus. Towards the midline, the orbital surface is supplied instead by the medial frontobasal artery, a branch of the anterior cerebral artery, and the two meet along a border zone.

The cortex it feeds lies on the floor of the anterior cranial fossa, above the orbital roof. In the dominant hemisphere its territory borders Broca's area, so its blockage may add to speech difficulty when other branches are involved. Because it arises early and runs forwards beneath the frontal lobe, it is one of the vessels identified when the lateral sulcus is opened to reach aneurysms of the middle cerebral artery, and it helps surgeons find the first part of the parent artery.

Course and supply

Arises from

Middle cerebral artery, usually from the end of its sphenoidal part or the beginning of the superior trunk.

Ends in

Ends in cortical branches over the lateral orbital gyri and the orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus.

Supplies

Supplies the lateral part of the orbital surface of the frontal lobe and the lower inferior frontal gyrus.