Great Cerebral Vein - Anatomy

Anatomy

The great cerebral vein of Galen is considered a deep/internal cerebral vein. The internal cerebral veins are formed by the union of the thalamostriate vein and the choroid vein at the interventricular foramen. The deep/internal group of cerebral veins can be seen on the superior surfaces of the caudate nuclei and thalami just under the corpus callosum. The veins at the anterior poles of the thalami merge posterior to the pineal gland to form the Great Cerebral Vein of Galen. 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 corpus callosum and empties into the straight sinus located in the midline of the tentorium. Unlike the arteries, the cerebral veins have anastomoses. With extensive anastomoses, a slow occlusion of a venous channel rarely produces more than transitory effects.

There are both superficial/external and deep/internal cerebral veins, the great cerebral vein being a deep/internal vein as mentioned above) in the brain. As there are 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 in the upper margin of the falx cerebri. The superior sagittal sinus divides into two parts called the transverse sinuses where the falx cerebri meets the tentorium cerebelli. The sigmoid sinus, which continues the transverse sinus, empties into the jugular vein at the jugular foramen. The internal jugular vein leaves the skull and travels downward to the neck.

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 matter and the meningeal layer in the dura and drain into the cranial venous sinuses.