Ventricles, Meninges and CSF

Prepared by:
Dr. Shilan H. karim
Assistant Professor of Anatomy & histology

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 Ventricles, Meninges and CSF
Prepared by:
Dr. Shilan H. karim
Assistant Professor of Anatomy & histology

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 • The brain and the spinal cord are surrounded by three membranes or
meninges
• which are
• Dura
• Arachnoid
• Pia mater.

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 Dura mater

• The dura mater of the brain is conventionally described as two layers:

• the endosteal layer and the meningeal layer .
• These are closely united except along certain lines, where they
separate to form venous sinuses.
• The endosteal layer is nothing more than the periosteum covering
the inner surface of the skull bones. At the foramen magnum, it does
not become continuous with the dura mater of the spinal cord.
Around the margins of all the foramina in the skull, it becomes
continuous with the periosteum on the outside of the skull bones.
• It is most strongly adherent to the bones over the base of the skull.

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 • The meningeal layer is the dura mater proper.
• It is a dense, strong fibrous membrane covering the brain and is
continuous through the foramen magnum with the dura mater of the
spinal cord.

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 • The meningeal layer sends inward four septa, which
divide the cranial cavity into freely communicating
spaces that lodge the subdivisions of the brain .
• The function of these septa is to restrict the
displacement of the brain associated with
acceleration and deceleration, when the head is
moved.

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 • The falx cerebri is a sickle-shaped fold of dura mater that lies in the
midline between the two cerebral hemispheres.
• Its narrow anterior end is attached to the internal frontal crest and
the crista galli. Its broad posterior part blends in the midline with the
upper surface of the tentorium cerebelli. The superior sagittal sinus
runs in its upper fixed margin, the inferior sagittal sinus runs in its
lower concave free margin, and the straight sinus runs along its
attachment to the tentorium cerebelli.

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 The tentorium cerebelli
• is a crescent-shaped fold of dura mater that roofs
over the posterior cranial fossa .
• It covers the upper surface of the cerebellum and
supports the occipital lobes of the cerebral
hemispheres. In the anterior edge there is a gap, the
tentorial notch, for the passage of the midbrain,
which produces an inner free border and an outer
attached or fixed border.
• The fixed border is attached to the posterior clinoid
processes, the superior borders of the petrous bones,
and the margins of the grooves for the transverse
sinuses on the occipital bone.

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 • The free border runs forward at its two ends, crosses the attached
border, and is affixed to the anterior clinoid process on each side..

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 • The falx cerebri and the falx cerebelli are attached to the upper and
lower surfaces of the tentorium, respectively.

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 • 3. Falx cerebelli is a small sickle –shaped fold of dura mater attached
to the
• internal occipital crest projects forward between the two cerebellar
• hemispheres .its posterior fixed margin contains the occipital sinus.
• 4. Diaphragma sellae is a small, circular fold of dura mater that
forms the
• roof for the sella turcica.
• A small opening in its center allows passage of the stalk of the
pituitary gland.

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 Dural venous sinuses
• The venous sinuses of the cranial cavity are situated
between the layers of the dura mater.
• Their main functions to receive blood from the brain
through the cerebral veins and the CSF from the
subarachnoid space through the arachnoid villi.
• The blood in the dural sinuses ultimately drains in to
the internal jugular veins in the neck.
• The dural sinuses have no valves ,Emissary veins
,which are also valveless ,connect the dural sinuses
with the diploic veins of the skull and with the veins
of the scalp.

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 Superior sagittal sinus
• Occupies the upper fixed border of the falx cerebri.it
begins anteriorly at the foramen cecum .
• It runs posteriorly grooving the vault of the skull ,and at
the internal occipital protuberance it deviates to one or
the other side (usually right) and becomes continuous
with the corresponding Transverse sinus ,the superior
sagittal sinus receives in its course the superior cerebral
veins.
• At the internal occipital protuberance it is dilated to form
the confluence of the sinuses. Here the superior sagittal
sinus usually becomes continuous with the right
transverse sinus,
• it is connected to the opposite transverse sinus and
receives the occipital sinus.

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Saeed 22
 The inferior sagittal sinus

• Occupies the free lower margin of the falx cecebri.

• it runs backward and joins the great cerebral vein at the free margin
of the tentorium cerebelli ,to form thes staright sinus.

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 Straight sinus

• Occupies the line of junction of the falx cerebri with tentorium

cerebelli.It
• is formed by the union of the inferior sagittal sinus with the great
cerebral vein .
• It ends by turning to the left (sometimes to right) to form the
transverse sinus.

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 • The occipital sinus is a small sinus occupying the attached margin of
the falx cerebelli. It commences near the foramen magnum, where it
communicates with the vertebral veins and drains into the confluence
of sinuses.

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 The Transverse sinuses
• Are paired structures and they begin at the internal
occipital protuberance
• .the right is usually continuous with the superior
sagittal sinus ,and the left with the straight sinus.
• They receives the superior petrosal sinuses, the
inferior cerebral and cerebellar veins and the diploic
veins .they end by turning downward as the sigmoid
sinus.

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 • Sigmoid sinuses
• Are direct continuation of o the transverse sinuses.
• The sinus then turns forward and then inferiorly through the
posterior part of the jugular foramen to become continuous with the
superior bulb of the internal jugular vein.

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 The cavernous sinuses
• are situated in the middle cranial fossa on each side of the body of
the sphenoid bone .
• Numerous trabeculae cross their interior, giving them a spongy
appearance, hence the name.
• Each sinus extends from the superior orbital fissure in front to the
apex of the petrous part of the temporal bone behind.

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 • The internal carotid artery, surrounded by its sympathetic nerve
plexus, runs forward through the sinus .
• The abducent nerve also passes through the sinus.
• The third and fourth cranial nerves and the ophthalmic and maxillary
divisions of the trigeminal nerve run forward in the lateral wall of the
sinus .
• They lie between the endothelial lining and the dura mater. The
tributaries are the superior and inferior ophthalmic veins, the inferior
cerebral veins, the sphenoparietal sinus, and the central vein of the
retina.
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 • The sinus drains posteriorly into the superior and inferior petrosal
sinuses and inferiorly into the pterygoid venous plexus.
• The two sinuses communicate with each other by means of the
anterior and posterior intercavernous sinuses, which run in the
diaphragma sellae anterior and posterior to the stalk of the
hypophysis cerebri .
• Each sinus has an important communication with the facial vein
through the superior ophthalmic vein. (This is a route by which
infection can travel from the facial skin to the cavernous sinus.)

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 • The superior and inferior petrosal sinuses are small sinuses situated
on the superior and inferior borders of the petrous part of the
temporal bone on each side of the skull .
• Each superior sinus drains the cavernous sinus into the transverse
sinus, and each inferior sinus drains the cavernous sinus into the
internal jugular vein.

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 Arachnoid mater

• Is a delicate, impermeable membrane covering the brain and lying

between the pia mater internally and dura mater externally,
• it is separated from dura by Subdural space filled by a film of fluid
and separated from pia mater by Subarachnoid space which is filled
with CSF.

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 • In certain areas the arachnoid projects into the venous sinuses to
form arachnoid villi.
• The arachnoid villi are most numerous along the superior sagittal
sinus, aggregation of arachnoid villi are known as
• arachnoid granulations.
• CSF is absorbed by the arachnoid granulations to the blood stream.

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 • Structures passing to and from the brain to the skull or its foramina
must pass through the subarachnoid space.
• All the cerebral arteries and veins lie in the space, as do the cranial
nerves.
• In case of optic nerve, the arachnoid forms a sheath for the nerve
thus the subarachnoid space extends around the optic nerve as far as
the eye ball.

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 Pia mater

• Is a vascular membrane covered by flattened

mesothelial cells.
• It closely invests the brain covering the gyri and
decending to deepest sulci.
• It extends over the cranial nerves.
• The cerebral arteries entering the substance of the
brain carry a sheath of pia with them.

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 The Ventricular System and the
Cerebrospinal Fluid

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 Ventricular System
• The ventricles are four fluid-filled cavities located within
the brain
• these are the two lateral ventricles, the third ventricle,
and the fourth ventricle.
• The two lateral ventricles communicate through the
interventricular foramina (of Monro) with the third
ventricle.
• The third ventricle is connected to the fourth ventricle by
the narrow cerebral aqueduct (aqueduct of Sylvius).
• The fourth ventricle, in turn, is continuous with the
narrow central canal of the spinal cord and, through the
three foramina in its roof, with the subarachnoid space.
• The central canal in the spinal cord has a small dilatation
at its inferior end, referred to as the terminal ventricle

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 Lateral Ventricles
• There are two large lateral ventricles, and one is
present in each cerebral hemisphere.
• The ventricle is a roughly C-shaped cavity and may be
divided into a body, which occupies the parietal lobe
and from which anterior, posterior, and inferior horns
extend into the frontal, occipital, and temporal lobes,
respectively.
• The lateral ventricle communicates with the cavity of
the third ventricle through the interventricular
foramen

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 • The body of the lateral ventricle extends from the
interventricular foramen posteriorly as far as the
posterior end of the thalamus.
• The roof is formed by the undersurface of the corpus
callosum.
• The floor is formed by the body of the caudate
nucleus and the lateral margin of the thalamus.
• The medial wall is formed by the septum pellucidum.

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 • The anterior horn of the lateral ventricle extends forward into the
frontal lobe.
• The posterior horn of the lateral ventricle extends posteriorly into the
occipital lobe.
• The inferior horn of the lateral ventricle extends anteriorly into the
temporal lobe

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 Third Ventricle

• The third ventricle is a slitlike cleft between the two thalami.

• It communicates anteriorly with the lateral ventricles through the
interventricular foramina (of Monro) and posteriorly with the fourth
ventricle through the cerebral aqueduct (of Sylvius)

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 • The anterior wall is formed by a thin sheet of gray matter, the lamina
terminalis, across which runs the anterior commissure .
• The posterior wall is formed by the opening into the cerebral
aqueduct.
• The lateral wall is formed by the medial surface of the thalamus
superiorly and the hypothalamus inferiorly.

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 Cerebral Aqueduct
• The cerebral aqueduct (aqueduct of Sylvius), a
narrow channel about(1.8 cm) long, connects the
third ventricle with the fourth ventricle.
• It is lined with ependymal cells.
• The direction of flow of cerebrospinal fluid is from
the third to the fourth ventricle.
• There is no choroid plexus in the cerebral aqueduct.

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 Fourth Ventricle
• The fourth ventricle is a tent-shaped cavity filled with
cerebrospinal fluid.
• It is situated anterior to the cerebellum and posterior
to the pons and the superior half of the medulla
oblongata .
• It is lined with ependyma and is continuous above
with the cerebral aqueduct of the midbrain and below
with the central canal of the medulla oblongata and
the spinal cord .
• The fourth ventricle possesses lateral boundaries, a
roof, and a rhomboid-shaped floor.

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 Floor or Rhomboid Fossa
• The diamond-shaped floor is formed by the posterior
surface of the pons and the cranial half of the medulla
oblongata .
• The floor is divided into symmetrical halves by the
median sulcus.
• On each side of this sulcus, there is an elevation, the
medial eminence, which is the sulcus limitans.
• Lateral to the sulcus limitans, there is an area known
as the vestibular area .
• The vestibular nuclei lie beneath the vestibular area.

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 Subarachnoid Space

• The subarachnoid space is the interval between the arachnoid mater

and pia mater and, therefore, is present where these meninges
envelop the brain and spinal cord .
• The space is filled with cerebrospinal fluid and contains the large
blood vessels of the brain.

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 Cerebrospinal fliud CSF
• CSF is formed in the choroid plexus by both filtration and
active transport.
• In normal adults, the CSF volume is 90 to 200 mL ,
approximately 20 percent of the CSF is contained in the
ventricles; the rest is contained in the subarachnoid space in
the cranium and spinal cord.
• The normal rate of CSF production is approximately 20 mL
per hour.

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 Thanks

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