A1-year-old infant presents with cardiomegaly and congestive heart failure. She has increased intracranial pressure with hydrocephaly and cranial bruit. A vein of Galen aneurysm, revealed by MRI, is shown to compress the aqueduct of Sylvius, the posterior part of the third ventricle, and the splenium of the corpus callosum. Normally, the cerebral vein of Galen joins with which dural venous sinus?
(A) inferior sagittal sinus
(B) sigmoid sinus
© superior petrosal sinus
(D) superior sagittal sinus
(E) transverse sinus
explanation:
(A) The great cerebral vein of Galen joins with the inferior sagittal sinus to form the straight sinus. The latter drains into the transversesinus (choice E). The superior sagittal sinus (choice D) drains posteriorly into the transverse sinus. The transverse sinus which runs bilaterally
on the posterior wall of the posterior cranial fossa becomes the sigmoid sinus (choice B) which flows into the internal jugular vein. The superior petrosal sinus (choice C) extends from the cavernous sinus to the beginning of the sigmoid sinus.