Confluence of sinuses

Confluence of sinuses
Dural veins. (Labeled with "confluens sinuum")
Sagittal section of the skull, showing the sinuses of the dura. (Labeled with "torcula herophili".)
Details
Source	superior sagittal sinus, straight sinus, occipital sinus
Drains to	transverse sinuses
Identifiers
Latin	confluens sinuum, torcula herophili
MeSH	A07.231.908.224
TA	A12.3.05.103
FMA	50784
*Anatomical terminology* [edit on Wikidata]

The confluence of sinuses, torcular herophili, or torcula is the connecting point of the superior sagittal sinus, straight sinus, and occipital sinus. It is found deep to the occipital protuberance of the skull. Blood arriving at this point then proceeds to drain into the left and right transverse sinuses. The superior sagittal sinus often drains into (either exclusively or predominantly) one transverse sinus, and the straight sinus drains into the other.

An older term often used for the confluence of sinuses "torcular herophili", describes the veins as a gutter, or canal, and honors Herophilos, the Greek anatomist who was the first to use cadavers for the systematic study of anatomy. This term more precisely refers to the concavity in the bone which is the location of the confluence of sinuses.^[1]

Additional images

Confluence of sinuses

References

↑ Tubbs, R.S. Neuroanatomy, 2002:1, 14

External links

Anatomy figure: 28:03-07 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
http://neuroangio.org/venous-brain-anatomy/venous-sinuses/

Veins of the head and neck

External jugular

Retromandibular	maxillary pterygoid plexus superficial temporal anterior auricular

Direct	posterior auricular transverse cervical suprascapular anterior jugular jugular venous arch

Internal jugular

Diploic/brain

Cerebral

Superficial:	superior superficial middle inferior inferior anastomotic (Labbé) superior anastomotic (Trolard)

Deep:	great internal basal deep middle superior thalamostriate

Cerebellar

Sinuses

To COS	superior sagittal straight inferior sagittal occipital

To CS	sphenoparietal intercavernous superior ophthalmic ethmoidal central retinal nasofrontal vorticose veins inferior ophthalmic

To IJV	sigmoid: transverse petrosquamous superior petrosal inferior petrosal basilar plexus internal auditory veins condylar

Facial/common facial

Direct

Brachiocephalic

Vertebral	occipital occipital emissary suboccipital venous plexus deep cervical

Direct	inferior thyroid inferior laryngeal thymic

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