Narrow and Atretic Transverse Dural Sinuses: Clinical Significance

Abstract

In 422 specimens of cerebral dural sinuses obtained at autopsy, there were 13 with marked narrowing of a segment of one or the other transverse sinuses, and 11 with absence of a part or all of a transverse sinus. In both groups a variety of compensatory venous channels had formed during embryonal development, apparently serving as bypasses for the partially or completely occluded transverse sinus. A knowledge of the anatomical variances at the confluence of sinuses is important to surgeons who manage patients with inflammatory problems implicating a transverse sinus and those performing radical dissection of the neck for cancer.