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Patterns and Rates of Supplementary Venous Drainage to the Internal Jugular Veins
Author(s) -
Qureshi Adnan I.,
Ishfaq Muhammad Fawad,
Herial Nabeel A.,
Khan Asif A.,
Suri M. Fareed K.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/jon.12333
Subject(s) - medicine , venous plexus , internal jugular vein , vein , cerebral veins , superior sagittal sinus , sigmoid sinus , anatomy , lower limbs venous ultrasonography , radiology , surgery , magnetic resonance imaging , thrombosis
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Several studies have found supplemental venous drainage channels in addition to bilateral internal jugular veins for cerebral venous efflux. We performed this study to characterize the supplemental venous outflow patterns in a consecutive series of patients undergoing detailed cerebral angiography with venous phase imaging. METHODS The venographic phase of the arteriogram was reviewed to identify and classify supplemental cerebral venous drainage into anterior (cavernous venous sinus draining into pterygoid plexus and retromandibular vein) and posterior drainage pattern. The posterior drainage pattern was further divided into plexiform pattern (with sigmoid venous sinus draining into the paravertebral venous plexus), and solitary vein pattern (dominant single draining deep cervical vein) drainage. The posterior plexiform pattern was further divided into 2 groups: posterior plexiform with or without prominent solitary vein. RESULTS Supplemental venous drainage was seen ipsilateral to internal jugular vein in 76 (43.7%) of 174 venous drainages (87 patients) analyzed. The patterns were anterior ( n = 23, 13.2%), posterior plexiform without prominent solitary vein ( n = 40, 23%), posterior plexiform with prominent solitary vein ( n = 62, 35.6%), and posterior solitary vein alone ( n = 3, 1.7%); occipital emissary veins and/or transosseous veins were seen in 1 supplemental venous drainage. Concurrent ipsilateral anterior and posterior supplemental drainage was seen in 6 of 174 venous drainages analyzed. CONCLUSIONS We provide an assessment of patterns and rates of supplementary venous drainage to internal jugular veins to improve our understanding of anatomical and physiological aspects of cerebral venous drainage.