Abstract
The superficial middle cerebral vein (SMCV) commonly drains in the cavernous sinus. Its different drainage variants include preserved segments of the primitive tentorial sinus. In any of these variants, the terminal venous segment of SMCV passes on the base of the skull. The archived computed tomography angiograms of a 58-year-old female case were documented anatomically. On the left side was found the sinus of the lesser sphenoidal wing converging with the middle meningeal vein to form a venous channel located within the Sylvian fissure at 4 mm laterally to the cavernous sinus and trigeminal cavum. That venous channel was thus termed the ‘laterocavernous vein’. It drained posteriorly within the superior petrosal sinus. This aberrant vein could interfere unpleasantly with pterional neurosurgical approaches for the Sylvian fissure, cavernous sinus or trigeminal ganglion.
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The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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MCR: protocol/project development, data analysis, documented specific literature, approved the final version of manuscript. PMR: data analysis, reviewed the manuscript, contributed discussions. CT: data analysis, reviewed the literature, reviewed the manuscript.
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Supplementary file1 Three-dimensional volume rendering of the left laterocavernous vein. Please see the caption of figure 1. (MP4 15591 KB)
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Rusu, M.C., Rădoi, P.M. & Toader, C. The transcerebral laterocavernous vein, a form of persisting primitive tentorial sinus. Surg Radiol Anat 44, 1471–1474 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-022-03038-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-022-03038-y