Dural Sinus Pressure

Abstract

Introduction A series of experiments in dogs have been undertaken to define the relationship of intracranial venous pressure as measured in the membranous and bony superior sagittal sinus to cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Previous workers^1,2have shown that cerebrospinal fluid pressure is normally greater than that within the sagittal sinus, and in addition that acute elevations of cerebrospinal fluid pressure are not followed by an increased pressure in the sinus.⁹Such data implies that there normally exists a gradient of pressure encouraging the transport of fluid from cerebrospinal fluid to sinus and also demonstrates the "venting" action of the venous sinus system in damping and compensating for acute changes in cerebrospinal fluid pressure, by acting as a low pressure runoff for the subarachnoid veins. Hydrocephalus represents a state of chronically elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure and permits study of cerebrospinal fluid dural venous pressure relationships under such a condition. Theoretically