gms | German Medical Science

59th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)
3rd Joint Meeting with the Italian Neurosurgical Society (SINch)

German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)

1 - 4 June 2008, Würzburg

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Visualization of the detailed anatomy of the basal vein of Rosenthal, the lateral mesencephalic vein and their interindividual variations using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography

Darstellung der detaillierten Anatomie der Vena basalis Rosenthal, der Vena mesencephalica lateralis und ihrer interindividuellen Variationen mittels kontrastverstärkter Magnetresonanzangiographie

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  • corresponding author J. Linn - Abteilung für Neuroradiologie, Universitätsklinikum München
  • K. Strueder - Abteilung für Neuroradiologie, Universitätsklinikum München
  • A. Ardeshir - Abteilung für Neurochirurgie, Universitätsklinikum München
  • P. A. Winkler - Abteilung für Neurochirurgie, Universitätsklinikum München
  • H. Brückmann - Abteilung für Neuroradiologie, Universitätsklinikum München

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. Società Italiana di Neurochirurgia. 59. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie e.V. (DGNC), 3. Joint Meeting mit der Italienischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (SINch). Würzburg, 01.-04.06.2008. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2008. DocP 048

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/dgnc2008/08dgnc317.shtml

Published: May 30, 2008

© 2008 Linn et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Objective: The lateral mesencephalic vein (LMV) constitutes the most important anastomosis between the supra- and infratentorial venous system, as it links the basal vein of Rosenthal (BVR) to the superior petrosal sinus (SPS). Thus, we aimed to determine the value of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) in the visualization of the interindividual variations of the BVR and its tributaries and the LMV.

Methods: CE-MRA was performed on a 3 Tesla MR scanner in 20 healthy volunteers (40 sides). Two experienced neuroradiologists evaluated the exams in consensus. The delineation and diameters of BVR and the LMV were noted and their tributaries and destinations were assessed.

Results: The BVR and the LMV could be depicted in 100% and 91.7%, respectively and had mean diameters of 1.9 and 1.3 mm. The following tributaries of the BVR were identified: inferior striatal veins (in 100%), deep sylvian veins (in 100%), anterior cerebral veins (in 100%), peduncular veins (in 100%), hippocampal veins (in 70.8%), inferior choroidal veins (in 95.8%), and superior thalamic veins (in 25%). The BVR drained into the internal cerebral veins in 62.5%, and into the great vein of Galen in 37.5%. The drainage of the LMV into the SPS could be demonstrated in 86,4% of cases.

Conclusions: Our findings regarding the delineation, tributaries and destinations of the BVR and the LMV were in accordance with anatomic dissection studies. Thus, we could demonstrate that CE-MRA is a valuable tool to visualize the detailed anatomy of these important venous structures, and thus allows optimized presurgical imaging of the interindividual variations of the BVR and the LMV.