A new look at the blood supply of the retro-ocular space. Three-dimensional analysis of the arterial pattern of the posterior ciliary artery.

A study of the arterial architecture of the orbit, especially the ophthalmic artery and the course of the posterior ciliary artery in the retroocular space, was carried out in 198 cadavers by three-dimensional arteriographic analysis. The posterior ciliary arteries were classified into three types: lateral posterior ciliary, medial posterior ciliary, and accessory posterior ciliary arteries. Both the lateral and medial posterior ciliary arteries reach the eyeball in three ways: (1) they run antero-inferiorly in a winding course to the posterior margin of the eyeball, then shift upward vertically at a 60-90 degree angle and reach the eyeball, where they divide into several ciliary branches (69%); (2) after a similar course, others branch to the eyeball from the superior side (29.3%); or (3) they reach the eyeball in an almost straight course along the optic nerve (1.7%). The fundamental characteristics of these three types of posterior ciliary artery pattern also exist in subhuman primates.