Artery of Percheron Infarct

An artery of Percheron is a common trunk arising from one of the P1 segments and supplying bilateral medial thalami and brainstem. Occlusion of the artery of Percheron results in bilateral medial thalamic and rostral mesencephalic infarction with a relatively symmetrical distribution. From a practical standpoint, these infarcts should be recognized as due to occlusion of a possible single rare artery that is a normal anatomic variant showing its peculiar supply and not be blamed on occlusion of multiple vascular territories.
Reference: Matheus, M. Gisele, Castillo, Mauricio Imaging of Acute Bilateral Paramedian Thalamic and Mesencephalic Infarcts. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2003 24: 2005-2008
Credit: Dr Nitin Singh
http://www.radpod.org