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Occipital sinus

Vein: Occipital sinus

Dural veins

The sinuses at the base of the skull. (Occipial sinus visible at bottom center.)
Latin	sinus occipitalis
Gray's	subject #171 658
Drains to	confluence of sinuses
MeSH	Cranial+Sinuses
Dorlands/Elsevier	s_12/12738998

The occipital sinus is the smallest of the cranial sinuses.

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It is situated in the attached margin of the falx cerebelli, and is generally single, but occasionally there are two.

It commences around the margin of the foramen magnum by several small venous channels, one of which joins the terminal part of the transverse sinus; it communicates with the posterior internal vertebral venous plexuses and ends in the confluence of the sinuses.

Additional images

v • d • e Veins of head and neck
head and face	common facial • facial (frontal, supraorbital, angular, superior labial, inferior labial, deep facial) • pterygoid plexus retromandibular (maxillary) • superficial temporal (anterior auricular) • posterior auricular occipital • suboccipital venous plexus
neck	internal jugular: lingual • pharyngeal • superior thyroid • middle thyroid other jugular veins: external • anterior • arch vertebral (deep cervical)
diploic/brain	cerebral: superior • middle • inferior • great • internal (basal) cerebellar: superior • inferior
sinuses of the dura mater	sigmoid • transverse (petrosquamous) confluence: superior sagittal • straight (inferior sagittal) • occipital cavernous (sphenoparietal) • inferior petrosal (basilar plexus) • intercavernous • superior petrosal • emissary
ophthalmic	superior ophthalmic • central retinal • nasofrontal • inferior ophthalmic • vorticose veins
internal auditory veins