Evaluation of intracranial dural venous variations with MR venography

Some variations that can be observed in venous sinuses may mimic conditions such as sinus vein thrombosis and mass invasions, leading to false diagnoses. It is very important to know the variations for correct radiological reporting. Cerebral vein variations may differ not only between individuals, but also from both hemispheres of the same person, regardless of the arteries. This situation makes the classification of cerebral veins difficult. Dural venous sinuses can be evaluated by radiological methods (Digital Substance Angiography (DSA), Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA), Magnetic Resonance Angiogaphy (MRA) in normal population as evaluated by cadaveric-anatomic specimen studies (1-4). Between July 2010 and August 2018, 968 patients who underwent cerebral venous MRA were included in our study. Of these 968 patients, 154 were excluded due to venous thrombosis and mass invasion. A total of 814 patients (186 male, 628 female) were included in the study. Patients' ages ranged between 1-92 (mean 35.95 ± 14.979). Variations of dural venous sinuses were evaluated in each patient. When the superior sagittal sinus (CNS) variations were examined, 6 types were observed. Of the 814 patients, 357 (43.9%) showed variability. There were 2 types of changes in the tranvers sinus. Of the 814 patients, 342 (42%) showed variation. When sigmoid sinus was examined, 243 (29.9%) of 814 patients showed variation and 2 type variations were present. When sinus rectus was examined, there were 3 types of variations. Of 814 patients, 42 (5.2%) had variations. Presence of occipital sinus was present in 27 (3.3%) of 814 patients and there were 2 types of variations. Non-invasive, irradiated and non-contrasted MR imaging techniques are an important advantage for evaluation of dural sinuses. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the dural sinus variations in all age groups with 3D PCA MRI VENOGRAPHY.