Microsurgical anatomy of the internal vertebral venous plexuses

The vertebral venous plexuses: The internal veins are muscular and external veins have valves

“…Although our study has some limitations, the most significant being access to a limited number of elderly cadavers, the main aim was to investigate the structure of the veins of the VVP rather than their gross morphology which has been reported previously (Groen etal.,1997; Chaynes et al,1998). The consistency of our findings suggests that they are unlikely to be significantly altered by a larger sample size.…”

“…Each pair has a ladder‐like arrangement of transverse connecting veins. The larger anterior pair flanks the posterior longitudinal ligament deviating laterally at the level of intervertebral discs and approaching the midline at mid‐vertebral body level, where transverse connecting veins receive basivertebral veins exiting posteriorly from the vertebral bodies (Chaynes et al,1998). The posterior IVVP is located posterolaterally within the vertebral canal and receives small tributaries from vertebral laminae and spinous processes; in the lumbar and cervical regions the longitudinal veins are positioned more laterally (Dilenge,1978).…”

“…The posterior IVVP is located posterolaterally within the vertebral canal and receives small tributaries from vertebral laminae and spinous processes; in the lumbar and cervical regions the longitudinal veins are positioned more laterally (Dilenge,1978). Although it is usually stated that the IVVP lies within the epidural space of the vertebral canal surrounded by fat, this is only strictly true for the posterior IVVP since the anterior veins are sandwiched between the two layers of the posterior longitudinal ligament (Chaynes et al,1998; Shimizu,2006).…”

Position Dependent Changes of the Cerebral Venous Drainage - Implications for the Imaging of the Cervical Spine

“…The internal and external vertebral plexuses and the vertebral vein were identifi ed on the axial T2-weighted fast spin echo sequences and the fl ow sensitive T1-weighted gradient echo sequences. Diff erent parts of the vertebral plexuses, as described in cadaver and animal studies [4,6,8,9] , were analyzed and compared to previously published anatomical descriptions. At the level of the radicular veins, the diameter of the longitudinal vein of the anterior internal venous plexus was recorded in millimeters, if the vein was present.…”

Human cerebral venous outflow pathway depends on posture and central venous pressure

“…A high outflow resistance would endanger cerebral blood flow in the upright posture if there were no alternative cerebral venous outflow pathway. There is an alternate pathway via the vertebral venous plexus (Batson, 1944; Zouaoui & Hidden, 1989; Chaynes et al 1998) which extends from the intracranial venous sinuses to the superior caval system. Radiographic studies have shown the vertebral venous plexus to be the major exit pathway of cerebral blood in the erect position in Rhesus monkeys (Epstein et al 1970).…”