Canine Intracranial Venous System: A Review

Abstract

The intracranial venous system (ICVS) represents in mammals a complex three-dimensional structure, which provides not only for adequate brain perfusion, but has also a significant impact on: cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) resorption, maintaining of the intracranial pressure (ICP), and brain thermoregulation. An intimate understanding of the anatomy and physiology of ICVS is fundamental for neurological diagnostics, selection of therapeutic options, and success of neurosurgical procedures in human and veterinary medicine. Since the intracranial interventions in dogs are recently performed more frequently than twenty or thirty years ago, the authors decided to review and report on the basic knowledge regarding the complex topic of morphology and function of the canine ICVS. The research strategy involved an NCBI/NLM, PubMed/MED-LINE, and Clarivate Analytics Web of Science search from January 1, 1960, to December 31, 2021, using the terms “canine dural venous sinuses” and “intracranial venous system in dogs” in the English language literature; also references from selected papers were scanned and relevant articles included.