The Cilioretinal Arteries

Abstract

The cilioretinal arteries belong to the posterior ciliary artery system. They usually arise from the peripapillary choroid or directly from one of the short posterior ciliary arteries. The existence of the cilioretinal arteries is a congenital anomaly rather than one acquired due to some disease, inflammatory, or other morbid process. It was first described by Müller [1] in 1856 (Fig. 3.1) and first demonstrated histologically in 1876 by Nettleship [2], who stated that in sectioning of a human eye, he found ``a small artery from the choroid turning round the edge of the disc, and running uninterruptedly for some distance in the retina, where it breaks up into capillaries.'' Since then, there have been many reports of the presence of a cilioretinal artery (Table 3.1) [3--26]. Nettleship [27] in 1876 reported 7 cases of cilioretinal arteries. In 1879, he [3] published many important observations, still relevant, about the cilioretinal arteries. He stated the following: