Collateral circulation is the alternate circulation around a blocked artery or vein via another path, such as nearby minor vessels. It may occur via preexisting vascular redundancy (analogous to engineered redundancy), as in the circle of Willis in the brain, or it may occur via new branches formed between adjacent blood vessels (neovascularization), as in the eye after a retinal embolism or in the brain when moyamoya occurs. [Source: Wikipedia 
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