Cerebral veins - Medial view (English)

Located between the periosteal and meningeal layers of dura mater are the dural venous sinuses. Generally venous blood from deeper structures of the cerebrum drain into deep cerebral veins (see previous image) which extend and empty into three dural venous sinuses: the transverse, straight and sigmoid sinuses. The straight sinus receives the inferior sagittal sinus and the great cerebral vein (of Galen). It runs in a posteroinferior direction towards the internal occipital protuberance and contributes to the formation of the confluence of sinuses. Emerging from this confluence are the paired transverse sinuses which travel within the lateral border of the tentorium cerebelli. The transverse sinuses terminate as they extend to form the sigmoid sinuses at the point where the tentorium cerebelli ends. The sigmoid sinuses course along the floor of the posterior cranial fossa and empty into the internal jugular veins as they leave the cranium via the jugular foramina. Tributaries of the sigmoid sinus include the mastoid and (posterior) condylar emissary veins as well as veins which drain the cerebellum, namely the inferior cerebellar veins.