The great cerebral vein is one of the large

blood vessel Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many Animal, animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the Tissue (biology), tissues of a Body (bi ...

s in the

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

draining the

cerebrum The cerebrum (: cerebra), telencephalon or endbrain is the largest part of the brain, containing the cerebral cortex (of the two cerebral hemispheres) as well as several subcortical structures, including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfac ...

of the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

. It is also known as the vein of Galen, named for its discoverer, the Greek physician

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

Structure

The great cerebral vein is one of the deep cerebral veins. Other deep cerebral veins are the internal cerebral veins, formed by the union of the superior thalamostriate vein and the superior choroid vein at the interventricular foramina. The internal cerebral veins can be seen on the superior surfaces of the caudate nuclei and thalami just under the

corpus callosum The corpus callosum (Latin for "tough body"), also callosal commissure, is a wide, thick nerve tract, consisting of a flat bundle of commissural fibers, beneath the cerebral cortex in the brain. The corpus callosum is only found in placental ...

. The veins at the anterior poles of the thalami merge posterior to the

pineal gland The pineal gland (also known as the pineal body or epiphysis cerebri) is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. It produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone, which modulates sleep, sleep patterns following the diurnal c ...

to form the great cerebral vein. Most of the blood in the deep cerebral veins collects into the great cerebral vein. This comes from the inferior side of the posterior end of the

and empties ie similarities, there are also differences between these two types of veins in the brain. The superficial veins at the dorsal parts of the hemispheres run upward and medially and empty into the large

superior sagittal sinus The superior sagittal sinus (also known as the superior longitudinal sinus), within the human head, is an unpaired dural venous sinus lying along the attached margin of the falx cerebri. It allows blood to drain from the lateral aspects of the a ...

in the upper margin of the falx cerebri. The

divides into two parts called the transverse sinuses where the falx cerebri meets the tentorium cerebelli. The

sigmoid sinus The sigmoid sinuses (sigma- or s-shaped hollow curve), also known as the , are paired dural venous sinuses within the skull that receive blood from posterior transverse sinuses. Structure The sigmoid sinus is a dural venous sinus situated withi ...

, which continues the transverse sinus, empties into the

jugular vein The jugular veins () are veins that take blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Struc ...

at the

jugular foramen A jugular foramen is one of the two (left and right) large foramina (openings) in the base of the skull, located behind the carotid canal. It is formed by the temporal bone and the occipital bone. It allows many structures to pass, including the ...

. The

internal jugular vein The internal jugular vein is a paired jugular vein that collects blood from the brain and the superficial parts of the face and neck. This vein runs in the carotid sheath with the common carotid artery and vagus nerve. It begins in the posteri ...

leaves the skull and travels downward to the neck. The length of the great cerebral vein of Galen varies from 0.15 to 4.2 cm (mean 0.93 cm). The veins of the brain have very thin walls and contain no valves. They emerge in the brain and lie in the subarachnoid space. They pierce the arachnoid mater and the meningeal layer in the dura and drain into the cranial

dural venous sinuses The dural venous sinuses (also called dural sinuses, cerebral sinuses, or cranial sinuses) are venous sinuses (channels) found between the periosteal and meningeal layers of dura mater in the brain. They receive blood from the cerebral veins, ...

Clinical significance

Malformations

Most conditions associated with the great cerebral vein are due to congenital defects. Vein of Galen aneurysmal malformations (VGAM) are the most common form of symptomatic cerebrovascular malformation in neonates and infants. The presence and locations of angiomas are very variable and do not follow any predictable pattern. The congenital malformation develops during weeks 6-11 of fetal development as a persistent embryonic prosencephalic vein of Markowski; thus, VGAM is actually a misnomer. The vein of Markowski actually drains into the vein of Galen. A falcine sinus lies within the falx cerebri and connects the vein of Galen and superior sagittal sinus; it is normally present during fetal development and involutes after birth, but its presence after birth is associated with a vein of Galen malformation and other vascular anomalies.

Absence

Absence of the great cerebral vein is a

congenital disorder A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

. The deep cerebral veins of the brain normally drain through the great cerebral vein. In its absence, the veins from the diencephalon and the basal ganglia drain laterally into the transverse sinus instead of conjoining in the midline through the Galenic drainage system. Absence of the great cerebral vein is quite rare. It is detected in infancy and most patients die in the neonatal period or in early infancy.

Thrombosis

Thrombosis of the great cerebral vein is a form of stroke due to a blood clot in the vein. It affects just 3 to 8% of patients, predominantly women. Patients may present with consciousness problems, headaches, nausea, visual defects, fatigue, disturbance of eye movements and pupillary reflexes, or coma. Thrombosis of the cerebral vein is often deadly but can be survived. Risk factors include oral contraceptives, pregnancy, and the

postpartum period The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to last for six to eight weeks. There are three distinct phases of the postnatal period; the acute phase, lasting for six to twelve hours after birth; the ...

History

References

External links

* * http://neuroangio.org/venous-brain-anatomy/deep-venous-system/
Vein of Galen images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Cerebral Vein Veins of the head and neck