Inferior petrosal sinus

Last revised by Zander Hendrik Engelbrecht on 21 Feb 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Gaillard F, Engelbrecht Z, Hacking C, et al. Inferior petrosal sinus. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 02 Oct 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-5252

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-5252

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/5252?iframe=true

rID:

5252

Article created:

25 Dec 2008, Frank Gaillard ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.

View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures

Last revised:

21 Feb 2022, Zander Hendrik Engelbrecht

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Zander Hendrik Engelbrecht had no recorded disclosures.

View Zander Hendrik Engelbrecht's current disclosures

Revisions:

17 times, by 10 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Vascular, Central Nervous System

Sections:

Anatomy

The inferior petrosal sinus is one of the dural venous sinuses. It is often a plexus of venous channels rather than a true sinus and drains blood from the cavernous sinus to the jugular bulb through the jugular foramen (pars nervosa) or sometimes via a vein which passes through the hypoglossal canal to the suboccipital venous plexus. The inferior petrosal sinus is usually larger than its superior counterpart and empties the majority of the blood from the cavernous sinus.

It leaves the posterior wall of the cavernous sinus under the petroclinoid ligament, inferior to the superior petrosal sinus and runs in a shallow groove between the petrous temporal bone and basilar occipital bone (on either side of the clivus). It is connected across the midline by the basilar plexus.

Along with the cavernous sinus, it receives tributaries from the medulla oblongata, pons, and inferior surface of the cerebellum as well as labyrinthine veins (via the cochlear canaliculus and the vestibular aqueduct).