Background: Dandy's superior petrosal vein (SPV) anatomy is highly relevant for neurosurgeons. The SPV drains into the superior petrosal sinus (SPS), closely related to the trigeminal and internal auditory pores.
Method: The archived enhanced MRI files of a male patient were studied.
Results: An infratentorial ring-shaped (RS) SPV was found on the petrosal surface of the right cerebellar hemisphere. It was inserted in the SPS above the internal auditory pore, postero-lateral to the trigeminal pore. The anterior arm of that venous ring received a delicate supratrigeminal plexus of veins from the pontine surface and continued as a single venous trunk on the cerebellar surface.
Conclusion: Such previously unreported RS-SPV is of utmost importance to be identified before subtemporal transtentorial and retrosigmoid approaches for different neurosurgical reasons.
Keywords: Cerebellar vein; Internal auditory meatus; Superior petrosal sinus; Tentorium cerebelli; Trigeminal nerve.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature.