Corpus: Superior cerebellar artery

The superior cerebellar artery, or SCA for short, is a branch of the terminal section of the basilar artery that supplies blood to the cerebellum.

The superior cerebellar artery runs laterally beneath the oculomotor nerve, which separates it from the posterior cerebral artery. As it continues, the artery winds around the cerebral peduncle, passing near the trochlear nerve, to reach the superior surface of the cerebellum. Here, its branches spread out in the pia mater and form anastomoses with other cerebellar arteries, including the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) and the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA).

The SCA primarily supplies the upper parts of the cerebellar hemispheres, the cerebellar vermis, and regions of the midbrain.

Additionally, the SCA gives off smaller branches to the pineal gland, the anterior medullary velum, and the choroid plexus of the third ventricle.

Occlusion of the superior cerebellar artery can result in an SCA infarction, leading to ischemic damage in its supply area.

The superior cerebellar artery is also implicated in some cases of classic trigeminal neuralgia, where direct contact between the artery and the trigeminal nerve can cause compression, known as the Jannetta mechanism, contributing to the neuralgia. This vascular-nerve contact is involved in about 80 % of trigeminal neuralgia cases.