Does the artery of Adamkiewicz exist in the albino rat?

The arterial supply of the spinal cord of the rat in the thoracolumbar region was studied in 26 Wistar albino rats. Contrary to the situation in man, and in variance with earlier reports for the rat, we did not observe a single large artery at the thoracolumbar level supplying a large part of the spinal cord. The anterior spinal artery at this level seemed to be adequately supplied by three to five principal arteries. A considerable variation in the distribution and size of these feeding arteries was observed. It is concluded that the equivalent of the artery of Adamkiewicz is not invariably present in the rat and it would appear that the vascular anatomy of the rat spinal cord is not as similar to that of man as has previously been reported.