The morphological variants of dural venous sinuses

Abstract

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to analyze the dural venous system variations in Turkey by magnetic resonance imaging examinations. Material and Methods: Images of a total of 200 patients (65 males, 135 females M/F: 0.48) who underwent a magnetic resonance venography examination were retrospectively screened. Results: Variation was detected in 101 patients (53.85% of males [35/65] and 48.89% of females [66/135]). In 16.5% of the patients, only one variation of dural venous system was detected, while the most common variation was left transverse hypoplasia in this group. Twenty-six percent of the patients had two variations of the dural venous system since the most common dual variations were left transverse hypoplasia + left sigmoid hypoplasia in this group. In 8% of the patients, three or more variations of the dural venous system were observed as the most common variations were right transverse hypoplasia + right sigmoid hypoplasia + presence of occipital sinus in this group. Discussion and Conclusion: It is essential to know the anatomical variations of the dural venous system for the discrimination between pathological processes such as thrombosis and physiologic conditions. Furthermore, the association of these variations with each other must be kept in mind for the explanation of the presence of multiple variations in the same individuals.