Dural venous sinuses
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.
View Frank Gaillard's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Tariq Walizai had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Tariq Walizai's current disclosures- Dural venous sinus
- Dural sinus
- Dural sinuses
Dural venous sinuses are venous channels located intracranially between the two layers of the dura mater (endosteal layer and meningeal layer) and can be conceptualised as trapped epidural veins. Unlike other veins in the body, they run alone and not parallel to arteries. Furthermore, they are valveless, allowing for bidirectional blood flow from and into intracranial veins.
Together the dural venous sinuses form the major drainage pathways from the brain, predominantly to the internal jugular veins.
It is important to note that the draining territories of intracranial veins are different from those of arterial territories of the major cerebral arteries.
The main dural venous sinuses can be classified as midline unpaired sinuses and bilateral sinuses that often drain to midline vessels:
Unpaired sinuses
Paired sinuses
On this page:
Embryology
During early embryonic development, the dural venous system evolves from a primary brain plexus via the union of the anterior cardinal vein and sprouts from the dorsal aorta. By week 4 to 5, a primitive capillary network forms, leading to the development of three venous plexuses (anterior, middle, and posterior) that shape the future dural layer. These plexuses link to the primary head sinus, which undergoes lateral migration, transforming into the internal jugular vein. Over time, the primary head sinus diminishes, and bridging veins emerge as primary anastomoses decrease. By the end of the embryonic stage, embryonic sinuses such as the pro-otic and primitive tentorial sinuses appear, laying the groundwork for the mature cranial venous system. In the foetal stages (40-80 mm crown-rump length), the pro-otic sinus matures through chondrocranium and membranous skull formation, with tributaries giving rise to structures like the middle meningeal sinuses, cavernous sinus, and inferior petrosal sinus. Other transformations include the formation of the sphenoid emissary, connections between various veins, and the elongation of sinuses due to cerebral expansion 6.
Related pathology
See also
Quiz questions
References
- 1. Standring S (editor). Gray's Anatomy (39th edition). Churchill Livingstone. (2011) ISBN:0443066841. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 2. Kretschmann H, Weinrich W. Cranial Neuroimaging and Clinical Neuroanatomy. Thieme. (2004) ISBN:1588901459. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 3. Last's anatomy, regional and applied. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN:044304662X. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 4. Moore KL, Agur AMR, Dalley AF. Clinically oriented anatomy. LWW. ISBN:1451119453. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 5. Butler P, Mitchell A, Healy JC. Applied Radiological Anatomy. Cambridge University Press. (2012) ISBN:0521766664. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 6. Toma N. Embryology of the Cavernous Sinus and Relevant Veins. JNET. 2020;14(12):540-6. doi:10.5797/jnet.ra.2020-0052 - Pubmed
Incoming Links
- Inferior petrosal sinus
- Venous distension sign
- Dura mater
- Erythrocytosis
- Bern score
- Marginal sinus (foramen magnum)
- Occipital sinus
- Superior petrosal sinus
- Anterior condylar confluence
- Inferior cerebral veins
- Encephalocele
- Dural venous sinus thrombosis
- Monro-Kellie hypothesis
- Temporal encephalocele
- Cavernous sinus thrombosis
- Scalp
- Emissary veins (skull)
- Aberrant arachnoid granulations
- Intralaminar dural haemorrhage
- Cerebrospinal fluid
- Hypoplastic rostral superior sagittal sinus
- Cerebral venous thrombosis
- Cerebral arteriovenous malformation
- Idiopathic intracranial hypertension
- Intracranial hypotension
- Dural venous sinuses (Gray's illustrations)
- Central neurocytoma
- Dural venous development (Gray's illustrations)
- Diffuse axonal injury - stage 1
- Idiopathic intracranial hypertension with VI CN palsy - paediatric
- Dural sinus thrombosis and parenchymal haemorrhage
- Trigeminal schwannoma - mandibular division
- Arachnoid granulations - typical
- Dural venous sinus thrombosis
- Vein of Trolard thrombosis with venous infarction (CT perfusion)
- Brain venous vascular territories (diagram)
- Idiopathic intracranial hypertension
- Transverse venous sinus aneurysm
- Meningioma invading the dural venous sinuses
- Vein of Galen malformation (adult presentation)
Related articles: Anatomy: Brain
-
brain
- grey matter
- white matter
-
cerebrum
-
cerebral hemisphere (telencephalon)
- cerebral lobes and gyri
- frontal lobe
- parietal lobe
-
occipital lobe
- occipital pole
- lingual gyrus
- fusiform gyrus (Brodmann area 37)
- calcarine (visual) cortex
- cuneus
- temporal lobe
- basal forebrain
- limbic system
- insula
-
cerebral sulci and fissures (A-Z)
- calcarine fissure
- callosal sulcus
- central (Rolandic) sulcus
- cingulate sulcus
- collateral sulcus
- inferior frontal sulcus
- inferior occipital sulcus
- inferior temporal sulcus
- interhemispheric fissure
- intraparietal sulcus
- lateral (Sylvian) sulcus
- lateral occipital sulcus
- marginal sulcus
- occipitotemporal sulcus
- olfactory sulcus
- paracentral sulcus
- paraolfactory sulcus
- parieto-occipital fissure
- posterior parolfactory sulcus
- precentral sulcus
- preoccipital notch
- postcentral sulcus
- rhinal sulcus
- rostral sulcus
- subparietal sulcus
- superior frontal sulcus
- superior occipital sulcus
- superior temporal sulcus
- cortical histology
- cerebral lobes and gyri
- white matter tracts
- deep grey matter
-
pituitary gland
- posterior pituitary and stalk (part of diencephalon)
- anterior pituitary
- inferior hypophyseal arterial circle
- diencephalon
-
cerebral hemisphere (telencephalon)
-
brainstem
- midbrain (mesencephalon)
- pons (part of metencephalon)
- medulla oblongata (myelencephalon)
- white matter
-
grey matter
- non-cranial nerve
-
cranial nerve nuclei
- oculomotor nucleus
- Edinger-Westphal nucleus
- trochlear nucleus
- motor nucleus of CN V
- mesencephalic nucleus of CN V
- main sensory nucleus of CN V
- spinal nucleus of CN V
- abducent nucleus
- facial nucleus
- superior salivatory nucleus
- cochlear nuclei
- vestibular nuclei
- inferior salivatory nucleus
- solitary tract nucleus
- ambiguus nucleus
- dorsal vagal motor nucleus
- hypoglossal nucleus
-
cerebellum (part of metencephalon)
- vermis
- cerebellar hemisphere
- cerebellar peduncles
- cranial meninges (meninx primitiva)
- CSF spaces
-
cranial nerves (mnemonic)
- olfactory nerve (CN I)
- optic nerve (CN II)
- oculomotor nerve (CN III)
- trochlear nerve (CN IV)
- trigeminal nerve (CN V) (mnemonic)
- abducens nerve (CN VI)
- facial nerve (CN VII) (segments mnemonic | branches mnemonic)
-
vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)
- vestibular ganglion (Scarpa's ganglion)
- glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX)
- vagus nerve (CN X)
- spinal accessory nerve (CN XI)
- hypoglossal nerve (CN XII)
- functional neuroanatomy
- CNS development
- cerebral vascular supply
- arteries
- vascular territories
-
circle of Willis
- internal carotid artery (ICA) (segments)
- vertebral artery
-
normal variants
- intracranial arterial fenestration
- internal carotid artery (ICA)
- anterior cerebral artery (ACA)
- middle cerebral artery (MCA)
- posterior cerebral artery (PCA)
- basilar artery
- persistent carotid-vertebrobasilar artery anastomoses (mnemonic)
- vertebral artery
- ophthalmic artery
-
cerebral venous system
-
dural venous sinuses
- basilar venous plexus
- cavernous sinus (mnemonic)
- clival diploic veins
- inferior petro-occipital vein
- inferior petrosal sinus
- inferior sagittal sinus
- intercavernous sinus
- internal carotid artery venous plexus of Rektorzik
- jugular bulb
- marginal sinus
- occipital sinus
- sigmoid sinus
- sphenoparietal sinus
- straight sinus
- superior petrosal sinus
- superior sagittal sinus
- torcula herophili
- transverse sinus
-
cerebral veins
-
superficial veins of the brain
- superior cerebral veins (superficial cerebral veins)
- inferior cerebral veins
- superficial middle cerebral vein
- superior anastomotic vein (of Trolard)
- inferior anastomotic vein (of Labbe)
-
superficial veins of the brain
-
deep veins of the brain
- great cerebral vein (of Galen)
- venous circle of Trolard
- normal variants
-
dural venous sinuses
- arteries
- glymphatic pathway