Acta Veterinaria Hungarica 51 (4), pp. 433–437 (2003) 0236-6290/2003/$ 20.00 © 2003 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest VASCULARISATION OF THE CEREBELLAR NUCLEI IN AKKARAMAN SHEEP D. YILDIZ * and M. E. GULTIKEN Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Kirikkale, 71450 Campus, Kirikkale, Turkey (Received October 30, 2002; accepted June 19, 2003) This study reports an anatomical study of the vascular supply in 20 Ak- karaman sheep cerebelli from adult subjects of both sexes. The origin and branching pattern of the cerebellar artery vascularising the cerebellar nuclei were studied by gross dissection and vascular injection. Then dissection was performed and vessels nourishing the cerebellar nuclei were documented. Four bilaterally symmetrical cerebellar nuclei were determined as nucleus lateralis cerebelli, nu- cleus interpositus lateralis cerebelli, and nucleus interpositus medialis cerebelli and nucleus fastigii from lateral to medial side. It has been previously confirmed that vascularisation of the cerebellar nuclei is carried out by intermediary branches of the rostral cerebellar artery and the caudal cerebellar artery. However, this study has confirmed that the caudal cerebellar artery has no contribution in the vascularisation of the cerebellar nuclei. Key words: Anatomy, blood supply, cerebellar nuclei, sheep The most important cells of the cerebellar cortex are Purkinje neurons. Their axons mix with the cell groups in the corpus medullare which is formed by the substantia alba. This formation is also named as intracerebellar nuclei or cerebellar nuclei (Jenkins, 1972; Walter and Hendelman, 1994). These nuclei, which are located at the dorsal surface of the ventriculus quartus, are described as nucleus fastigii, nucleus interpositus medialis cerebelli (globose nucleus), nu- cleus interpositus lateralis cerebelli (emboliform nucleus) and nucleus lateralis cerebelli (dentate nucleus) from the medial to the lateral direction, respectively (Dede, 1990; International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomen- clature, 1994; Walter and Hendelman, 1994; Crossman and Neary, 1995; Dur- sun, 2000). Nucleus interpositus medialis cerebelli and nucleus interpositus lat- eralis cerebelli have been reported to exist only in highly developed mammals and humans by some authors (Dyce et al., 1987; Dede, 1990). Although it is known that the rostral cerebellar artery (arteria cerebelli rostralis) has a function in the supply of cerebellar nuclei, there is no exact clas- * Corresponding author: Dr. Dincer Yildiz; Telephone: +90 (318) 3573301; Fax: +90 (318) 3573304; E-mail: dincer_yildiz@hotmail.com