Superior sagittal sinus

Superior sagittal sinus
Dural veins (superior sagittal sinus labeled as "SIN. SAGITALLIS SUP." at top)
Superior sagittal sinus laid open after removal of the skull cap. The chordæ Willisii are clearly seen. The venous lacunæ are also well shown; from two of them probes are passed into the superior sagittal sinus.
Details
Source	superior cerebral veins
Drains to	confluence of sinuses
Identifiers
Latin	sinus sagittalis superior
MeSH	D054063
TA98	A12.3.05.109
TA2	4856
FMA	50767
Anatomical terminology

The superior sagittal sinus (also known as the superior longitudinal sinus), within the human head, is an unpaired area along the attached margin of falx cerebri. It allows blood to drain from the lateral aspects of anterior cerebral hemispheres to the confluence of sinuses. Cerebrospinal fluid drains through arachnoid granulations into the superior sagittal sinus and is returned to venous circulation. See diagram (at right): labeled above the brain as "SIN. SAGITALLIS SUP." (for Latin: sinus sagittalis superior).

Anatomy

Commencing at the foramen cecum, through which it receives a vein from the nasal cavity, it runs from anterior to posterior, grooving the inner surface of the frontal, the adjacent margins of the two parietal lobes, and the superior division of the cruciate eminence of the occipital lobe. Near the internal occipital protuberance, it drains into the confluence of sinuses and deviates to either side (usually the right). At this point it is continued as the corresponding transverse sinus.

It is triangular in section, narrow in front, and gradually increases in size as it passes backward.

Its inner surface presents the openings of the superior cerebral veins, which run, for the most part, obliquely forward, and open chiefly at the back part of the sinus, their orifices being concealed by fibrous folds; numerous fibrous bands (chordæ Willisii) extend transversely across the inferior angle of the sinus; and, lastly, small openings communicate with irregularly shaped venous spaces (venous lacunæ) in the dura mater near the sinus.

There are usually three lacunæ on either side of the sinus: a small frontal, a large parietal, and an occipital, intermediate in size between the other two.

Most of the cerebral veins from the outer surface of the hemisphere open into these lacunæ, and numerous arachnoid granulations (Pacchionian bodies) project into them from below.

The superior sagittal sinus receives the superior cerebral veins, veins from the diploë and dura mater, and, near the posterior extremity of the sagittal suture, veins from the pericranium, which pass through the parietal foramina.

Additional images

• 
  Superior sagittal sinus
• 
  Left parietal bone. Inner surface.
• 
  Frontal bone. Inner surface.
• 
  Base of the skull. Upper surface.
• 
  Diagrammatic representation of a section across the top of the skull, showing the membranes of the brain, etc.
• 
  Diagrammatic section of scalp.
• 
  Human brain dura mater

See also

• Dural venous sinuses

External links

• http://neuroangio.org/venous-brain-anatomy/venous-sinuses/

References

• This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 654 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)