Bilateral venous sinuses of Kelch

Abstract

Knowledge of the variant anatomy of the intradural venous sinuses is important to anatomists and clinicians alike. Herein, we report a cadaveric case of the rare venous sinus of Kelch, which some have believed is a remnant of the cranioorbital sinuses. To our knowledge, only one other cadaveric case has been reported in the extant medical literature. Clinically, knowledge of such a variant venous sinus can minimize misdiagnoses such as when anatomical variations are noted on imaging. Surgically, such an understanding can avoid intraoperative complications such as iatrogenic hemorrhage.

A primer to vascular anatomy of the brain: an overview on anterior compartment

“…The veins can be subdivided into the supratentorial, basal and an infratentorial venous systems [ 7 , 14 , 20 , 32 , 33 , 45 , 46 ].…”

Cerebral Veins: A New “New Frontier”

“…In higher primates and humans, while the orbitotemporal sinuses persist as the middle meningeal venous network, the petrosquamous sinus generally involutes or becomes intradiploic. Remnants of the orbitotemporal sinuses are occasionally encountered in the form of a persistent petrosquamous sinus, 4 a venous sinus of Kelch, 5 which runs through the superior orbital fissure and connects the superior ophthalmic and middle meningeal veins to the transverse sinus, or a sinus of Hyrtl, 6 which connects the sphenoparietal sinus to middle meningeal veins in the foramen spinosum.…”