Three-Dimensional Atlas of the Cerebral Vasculature in Nigerian Adults Using 7T MRI: A Foundation for Cerebrovascular Surgery and Stroke Research

A comprehensive three-dimensional atlas of the cerebral vasculature in Nigerian adults is a critical missing scientific resource. Nigerian patients present with stroke and cerebrovascular disease at younger ages than Western counterparts, and surgical interventions including aneurysm clipping, arteriovenous malformation resection, and carotid endarterectomy require patient-specific vascular maps that account for normal variants and population-specific morphology. This study aims to construct a three-dimensional atlas of the cerebral vasculature in Nigerian adults using ultra-high-field 7 Tesla magnetic resonance angiography at the Federal Government-designated National Research Institute neuroimaging facility. Three hundred adults from the six geopolitical zones, selected through stratified random sampling of healthy volunteers and consenting patients, will undergo time-of-flight and phase contrast magnetic resonance angiography. Segmentation and reconstruction of the cerebral arterial tree, including the Circle of Willis, cortical branches, perforating arteries, and deep venous drainage, will be performed using validated automated and manual protocols. Geometric and morphometric parameters of each vascular segment will be extracted, and population-specific variant frequencies determined. The resulting atlas will constitute an open-access national neuroscience resource supporting cerebrovascular surgery training, stroke pathophysiology research, and computational fluid dynamics modelling of cerebral haemodynamics in Nigerian patients.

Keywords: cerebral vasculature, 7T MRI, angiography atlas, cerebrovascular surgery, Nigeria