Dural venous sinuses

Dural venous sinuses

Dural veins

Sagittal section of the skull, showing the sinuses of the dura.
Details
Identifiers
Latin Sinus durae matris
MeSH A07.231.908.224
Dorlands
/Elsevier		 s_12/12738708
TA A12.3.05.101
FMA 76590

Anatomical terminology

The dural venous sinuses (also called dural sinuses, cerebral sinuses, or cranial sinuses) are venous channels found between the endosteal and meningeal layers of dura mater in the brain.[1] They receive blood from internal and external veins of the brain, receive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the subarachnoid space via arachnoid granulations, and mainly empty into the internal jugular vein.

Venous sinuses

Name Drains to
Anterior
Sphenoparietal sinuses Cavernous sinuses
Cavernous sinuses Superior and inferior petrosal sinuses
Midline
Superior sagittal sinus Typically becomes right transverse sinus or confluence of sinuses
Inferior sagittal sinus Straight sinus
Straight sinus Typically becomes left transverse sinus or confluence of sinuses
Posterior
Occipital sinus Confluence of sinuses
Confluence of sinuses Right and Left transverse sinuses
Lateral
Superior petrosal sinus Transverse sinuses
Transverse sinuses Sigmoid sinus
Inferior petrosal sinus Internal jugular vein
Sigmoid sinuses Internal jugular vein

Structure

The walls of the dural venous sinuses are composed of dura mater lined with endothelium, a specialized layer of flattened cells found in blood vessels. They differ from other blood vessels in that they lack a full set of vessel layers (e.g. tunica media) characteristic of arteries and veins. It also lacks valves as seen in veins.

Clinical relevance

The sinuses can be injured by trauma in which damage to the dura mater, may result in blood clot formation (thrombosis) within the dural sinuses. Other common causes of dural sinus thrombosis include tracking of infection through the ophthalmic vein in orbital cellulitis. While rare, dural sinus thrombosis may lead to hemorrhagic infarction or cerebral oedema with serious consequences including epilepsy, neurological deficits, or death.[2]

Additional images

References

  1. ↑ Kiernan, John A. (2005). Barr's The Human Nervous System: An Anatomical Viewpoint. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 428–230. ISBN 0-7817-5154-3.
  2. ↑ de Bruijn SF, Stam J (1999). "Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of anticoagulant treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin for cerebral sinus thrombosis". Stroke. 30 (3): 484–8. PMID 10066840. doi:10.1161/01.str.30.3.484.
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