Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Feb;27(2):317-20.

Confirmation of communication between deep venous drainage and the vein of galen after treatment of a vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation in an infant presenting with severe pulmonary hypertension

P Gailloud  1 , D P O'riordan, I Burger, C U Lehmann
Affiliations

Confirmation of communication between deep venous drainage and the vein of galen after treatment of a vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation in an infant presenting with severe pulmonary hypertension

P Gailloud et al. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2006 Feb.

Abstract

Vein of Galen aneurysmal malformations (VGAM) are characterized by multiple arteriovenous connections draining into a markedly enlarged median draining vein. This ectatic vein is not the vein of Galen, but its embryonic precursor, the median prosencephalic vein of Markowski. During normal development, the posterior portion of the median prosencephalic vein persists as the vein of Galen, while its anterior portion regresses in parallel with the formation of the internal cerebral veins (ICV). It has been traditionally thought that, in children with a VGAM, the deep venous system does not connect to and, a fortiori, does not drain into the ectatic median prosencephalic vein/vein of Galen. This report describes a case of successfully treated VGAM in which the drainage of an ICV into the vein of Galen was only demonstrated by follow-up MR imaging and venography. The potential implications of this finding for the management of VGAMs are discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Five-day-old child with cardiorespiratory failure. A, Digital subtraction angiography (DSA), left common carotoid artery, lateral view, showing enlarged anterior cerebral (arrow) and anterior choroidal (arrowhead) arteries feeding a vein of Galen aneurysmal malformations (VGAM). Note the drainage of the malformation through a falcine sinus (asterisk). B, Follow-up magnetic MR imaging 2 years after endovascular therapy; axial T2-weighted images, showing the flow void of a right internal cerebral vein (ICV) (arrowheads) draining into the shrunken vein of Galen (arrow). Note the falcine sinus (long arrow). C, Two-year follow-up MR venography, sagittal view, showing the course of the right ICV (arrowheads), its termination into the small vein of Galen (arrow), and the falcine sinus (long arrow).
Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Five-day-old child with cardiorespiratory failure. A, Digital subtraction angiography (DSA), left common carotoid artery, lateral view, showing enlarged anterior cerebral (arrow) and anterior choroidal (arrowhead) arteries feeding a vein of Galen aneurysmal malformations (VGAM). Note the drainage of the malformation through a falcine sinus (asterisk). B, Follow-up magnetic MR imaging 2 years after endovascular therapy; axial T2-weighted images, showing the flow void of a right internal cerebral vein (ICV) (arrowheads) draining into the shrunken vein of Galen (arrow). Note the falcine sinus (long arrow). C, Two-year follow-up MR venography, sagittal view, showing the course of the right ICV (arrowheads), its termination into the small vein of Galen (arrow), and the falcine sinus (long arrow).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Raybaud CA, Strother CM, Hald JK. Aneurysms of the vein of Galen: embryonic considerations and anatomical features relating to the pathogenesis of the malformation. Neuroradiology 1989;31:109–28 - PubMed
    1. Levrier O, Gailloud P, Souei M, et al. Normal galenic drainage of the deep cerebral venous system in 2 cases of vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation (VGAM). Childs Nerv Syst 2004;20:91–97 - PubMed
    1. Chevret L, Durand P, Alvarez H, et al. Severe cardiac failure in newborns with VGAM: prognosis significance of hemodynamic parameters in neonates presenting with severe heart failure owing to vein of Galen arteriovenous malformation. Intensive Care Med 2002;28:1126–30 - PubMed
    1. Lasjaunias P, Alvarez H, Rodesch G, et al. Aneurysmal malformations of the vein of Galen: follow-up of 120 children treated between 1984 and 1994. Intervent Neuroradiol 1996;2 - PubMed
    1. Frawley GP, Dargaville PA, Mitchell PJ, et al. Clinical course and medical management of neonates with severe cardiac failure related to vein of Galen malformation. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2002;87:F144–49 - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms