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Encephalic Venous Drainage : Basic Principles

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PanVascular Medicine

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Abstract

Venous brain anatomy presents, characteristically, more variability than its arterial counterpart. Its general schema, however, can easily be followed in the understanding that the main strategic venous collectors maintain a constant pattern.

The development of the encephalic venous drainage evolves from one initial main venous trunk at each side of the embryo located inside the meninx primitiva (primitive head sinus) receiving the venous structures from the surface of the developing brain. This basic disposition is somehow retained along the development, in the sense that, in the adult, pial veins over the surface of the encephalon will ultimately drain mostly into main collectors located inside the dural coverings.

The behaviour and pathology of the brain drainage is, partly, related to this unique anatomy and to the need of connecting the fast developing encephalic veins to peripheral drainage venous structures. Dural venous connections to the sinuses must offer not only anatomical coverage but also a way of supporting and balancing cerebral venous pressure changes. The embryological and anatomical venous review presented in this study aims to offer a global understanding as well as a practical guide to approach the evaluation and treatment of pathological conditions in which the cerebral venous system is implied.

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Abbreviations

General Venous Brain Anatomy and Embryology:

Cerebral, cerebellar, veins, anatomy, embryology, dural sinus, pial vein, pia-arachnoidal vein, primary head sinus, emissary vein, tentorial sinus, falcine sinus, medial vein of the prosencephalon

Dural Venous Sinuses:

Superior Sagittal Sinus (Sss), Torcular Herophili, Transverse sinus, Sigmoid sinus, Superior Petrosal Sinus, Inferior Petrosal Sinus, Tentorial Sinus, Occipital sinus, Marginal Sinus, Straight Sinus, Inferior Sagittal Sinus, Cavernous Sinus, Sphenoparietal Sinus, Petrosquamous Sinus, Emisary Veins, Jugular Bulb

Superficial Pial Supratentorial Drainage:

Superficial Sylvian Vein, Deep Sylvian Vein, Vein of Trolard, Vein of Labbé

Deep Venous Drainage:

Internal Cerebral Vein, Thalamostriate Vein, Transverse caudate Vein, Septal Vein, Basal Vein of Rosenthal, Great Vein of Galen

Posterior Fossa Veins:

Galenic Confluent, Precentral Vein, Superior Vermian Vein, Lateromensencephalic vein, Torcular Confluent, Tentorial Sinus, Petrosal Confluent, Petrosal Vein, Inferior Confluent, Vein of the Lateral Recess of the Forth Ventricle

Evaluation of Venous Related Pathological Conditions:

Developmental Venous Anomaly, Dural Arteriovenous Fistula, Arteriovenous Malformation, Cerebral Venous Thrombosis, Vein of Galen

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unidad de Neuroradiología Vascular, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Servicio de Radiología, c/ Feixa Llarga s/n. 08907 – L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

    Maria Angeles de Miquel M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Maria Angeles de Miquel M.D., Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Maria Angeles de Miquel M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Akademisches Lehrkrankenhaus MLU, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany

    Peter Lanzer

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de Miquel, M.A. (2014). Encephalic Venous Drainage : Basic Principles. In: Lanzer, P. (eds) PanVascular Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37393-0_95-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37393-0_95-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-37393-0

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