Traumatic Injury to the Dural Venous Sinuses: A Review of Imaging Findings and Patterns of Injury

Injuries to the dural venous sinuses can lead to a variety of potentially devastating complications and are often unrecognized in the initial evaluation of a patient with complex head trauma. In this article, we briefly review dural venous sinus anatomy and anatomic variations. We aim to present various mechanisms of dural venous sinus injury and to propose categories of venous compression, occlusion, hemorrhagic venous infarct, and fistula formation. Knowledge of dural venous sinus anatomy and pathomechanisms of injury will aid the radiologist in prompt recognition of venous injury, regardless of whether imaging was tailored for the evaluation of the dural venous sinuses.

Learning Objective: Briefly review dural venous sinus anatomy and describe the imaging appearance and pathomechanisms of traumatic injury to the intracranial dural venous sinuses.