A 39-year-old woman presents to your clinic with complaints of headache and dizziness.
She has an infection of a cranial dural sinus. The sinus that lies in the margin of the
tentorium cerebelli and runs from the posterior end of the cavernous sinus to the transverse
sinus is infected. Which of the following sinuses is affected by inflammation?
(A) Straight sinus
(B) Inferior sagittal sinus
© Sphenoparietal sinus
(D) Superior petrosal sinus
(E) Cavernous sinus
The answer is D. The superior petrosal sinus runs from the cavernous sinus to the transverse
sinus along the attached margin of the tentorium cerebelli. This patient has meningitis
(infl ammation of the meninges), which causes headache and dizziness. The straight
sinus runs along the line of attachment of the falx cerebri to the tentorium cerebelli; the
inferior sagittal sinus lies in the free edge of the falx cerebri; the sphenoparietal sinus lies
along the posterior edge of the lesser wing of the sphenoid bone; the cavernous sinus lies
on each side of the sella turcica and the body of the sphenoid bone.