Great cerebral vein

Great cerebral vein
Velum interpositum. (Great cerebral vein labeled at bottom center.)
Dura mater and its processes exposed by removing part of the right half of the skull, and the brain. (Great cerebral vein labeled at bottom left.)
Details
Drains from	cerebrum
Source	internal cerebral veins
Drains to	straight sinus
Artery	cerebral arteries
Identifiers
Latin	vena magna cerebri
TA	A12.3.06.027
FMA	50993
Anatomical terminology []

The great cerebral vein is one of the large blood vessels in the skull draining the cerebrum of the brain. It is also known as the "vein of Galen", named for its discoverer, the Greek physician Galen. However, it is not the only vein with this eponym.

The great cerebral vein is considered as one of the deep cerebral veins. Other deep cerebral veins are the internal cerebral veins, formed by the union of the thalamostriate vein and the choroid vein at the interventricular foramina. The internal cerebral veins can be seen on the superior surfaces of the caudate nuclei and thalami just under the corpus callosum. The veins at the anterior poles of the thalami merge posterior to the pineal gland to form the great cerebral vein. Most of the blood in the deep cerebral veins collects into the great cerebral vein. This comes from the inferior side of the posterior end of the corpus callosum and empties into the straight sinus located in the midline of the tentorium. Unlike the arteries, the cerebral veins have anastomoses. With extensive anastomoses as branches, a slow blockage of a vein rarely produces more than transitory effects.

There are both superficial or external cerebral veins and deep or internal cerebral veins in the brain. As there are similarities, there are also differences between these two types of veins in the brain. The superficial veins at the dorsal parts of the hemispheres run upward and medially and empty into the large superior sagittal sinus in the upper margin of the falx cerebri. The superior sagittal sinus divides into two parts called the transverse sinuses where the falx cerebri meets the tentorium cerebelli. The sigmoid sinus, which continues the transverse sinus, empties into the jugular vein at the jugular foramen. The internal jugular vein leaves the skull and travels downward to the neck.