Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults

It is well established that the brain changes dramatically in appearance during gestation and even after birth. Due to the multi-channelled origins and the number of developmental options, the adult venous system is characterised by a higher incidence of anatomical variations than the arterial syste...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: du Toit, Francesca
Other Authors: Louw, Graham J
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Human Biology 2021
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613255054131200
access_status_str Open Access
author du Toit, Francesca
author2 Louw, Graham J
author_browse Louw, Graham J
du Toit, Francesca
author_facet Louw, Graham J
du Toit, Francesca
author_sort du Toit, Francesca
collection Thesis
description It is well established that the brain changes dramatically in appearance during gestation and even after birth. Due to the multi-channelled origins and the number of developmental options, the adult venous system is characterised by a higher incidence of anatomical variations than the arterial system. Limited information is available on anatomical variation of the complete cerebral venous system. It is important to have an understanding of the usual drainage pattern the cerebral venous system and its anatomical variations to provide a foundation for future studies on anomalous venous structures. The extent to which fetal drainage patterns persist postnatally has yet to be established. The goal of the current study was to accurately describe the cerebral venous drainage patterns, including persistence of fetal drainage patterns in children, adolescents and adults in order to understand anatomical variations and the clinical impact during cerebrovascular interventions. For the current study 302 magnetic resonance images with contrast medium from the Groote Schuur and Red Cross Children's War Memorial Hospitals were retrospectively reviewed. The volumes of the dural venous sinuses were traced using a novel approach developed for the study. The approach included constructing 3D models of the dural venous sinuses and using the tracings for statistical and morphological analyses. No images of children met the inclusion criteria and therefore further analyses of the subset was not possible. Statistical analyses were performed to determine if there are any associations between venous sinus volume and sex, age, cerebral dominance and/or variations. Significant differences were noted for sex, dominance and variations of the cerebral venous system. The confluence of sinuses (CS) showed the most abundant number of variations. Although many studies and classifications have been made regarding the variations of these structures, there is a lack of a comprehensive classification that includes all variations. The goal of the current study was to determine the anatomical variations more comprehensively particularly at the level of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and confluence of sinuses. The study improved on the current literature by using contrast enhanced images as opposed to nonenhanced images or results obtained at autopsy. It is also the first study to establish a tracing protocol for venous volume to determine cerebral dominance and describe variations of the dural venous sinuses.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32594
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:13.838Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher Department of Human Biology
publisherStr Department of Human Biology
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32594 An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults du Toit, Francesca Louw, Graham J Human Biology It is well established that the brain changes dramatically in appearance during gestation and even after birth. Due to the multi-channelled origins and the number of developmental options, the adult venous system is characterised by a higher incidence of anatomical variations than the arterial system. Limited information is available on anatomical variation of the complete cerebral venous system. It is important to have an understanding of the usual drainage pattern the cerebral venous system and its anatomical variations to provide a foundation for future studies on anomalous venous structures. The extent to which fetal drainage patterns persist postnatally has yet to be established. The goal of the current study was to accurately describe the cerebral venous drainage patterns, including persistence of fetal drainage patterns in children, adolescents and adults in order to understand anatomical variations and the clinical impact during cerebrovascular interventions. For the current study 302 magnetic resonance images with contrast medium from the Groote Schuur and Red Cross Children's War Memorial Hospitals were retrospectively reviewed. The volumes of the dural venous sinuses were traced using a novel approach developed for the study. The approach included constructing 3D models of the dural venous sinuses and using the tracings for statistical and morphological analyses. No images of children met the inclusion criteria and therefore further analyses of the subset was not possible. Statistical analyses were performed to determine if there are any associations between venous sinus volume and sex, age, cerebral dominance and/or variations. Significant differences were noted for sex, dominance and variations of the cerebral venous system. The confluence of sinuses (CS) showed the most abundant number of variations. Although many studies and classifications have been made regarding the variations of these structures, there is a lack of a comprehensive classification that includes all variations. The goal of the current study was to determine the anatomical variations more comprehensively particularly at the level of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and confluence of sinuses. The study improved on the current literature by using contrast enhanced images as opposed to nonenhanced images or results obtained at autopsy. It is also the first study to establish a tracing protocol for venous volume to determine cerebral dominance and describe variations of the dural venous sinuses. 2021-01-20T11:36:34Z 2021-01-20T11:36:34Z 2020 2021-01-20T11:35:37Z Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32594 eng application/pdf Department of Human Biology Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Human Biology
du Toit, Francesca
An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults
thesis_degree_str Doctoral
title An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults
title_full An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults
title_fullStr An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults
title_full_unstemmed An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults
title_short An investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults
title_sort investigation into variations in the venous drainage pattern in brains of adolescents and adults
topic Human Biology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32594
work_keys_str_mv AT dutoitfrancesca aninvestigationintovariationsinthevenousdrainagepatterninbrainsofadolescentsandadults
AT dutoitfrancesca investigationintovariationsinthevenousdrainagepatterninbrainsofadolescentsandadults