Computed tomographic angiography of the superficial cerebral venous anastomosis based on volume rendering,...

As damage to the superficial cerebral venous anastomosis may create catastrophic complications even after successful surgery, it is important to visualize and determine the normal features of the venous anastomosis with computed tomographic angiography. A total of 90 patients underwent a 64-detector row helical CT scan of head. The superficial cerebral venous anastomosis was reconstructed by volume rendering, multi-planar reconstruction, and integral display algorithm. In particular, we examined the vein of Trolard, the vein of Labbe, and the vein of Sylvian, in order to analyze the venous anastomosis. The superficial cerebral venous anastomosis varied across different individuals, and in this study, six types of anastomosis were found. In 28 % of patients, no venous anastomosis was found in the unilateral cerebral hemisphere. The display rate of the vein of Trolard, the vein of Labbe, and the vein of Sylvian in contributing to venous anastomosis was 70, 80, and 91 %, respectively. The number of vein of Trolard and vein of Labbe on the left side was greater than that of those on the right side. We implemented the 64-detector row helical CT as a rapid and noninvasive method to investigate the superficial cerebral venous anastomosis in our group of patients. We performed substantial image processing for the visualization of the superficial cerebral venous anastomosis; this would not only enable the early diagnosis of cerebral venous disease, but also protect the cerebral vein during neurosurgical intervention.