Cerebral Venous Drainage Pattern of the Sturge-Weber Syndrome

Carotid angiographies of 11 patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome revealed cerebral venous abnormalities in each. An abnormal cerebral venous drainage pattern was found, consisting of lack of superficial cortical veins and associated nonfilling of the superior sagittal sinus, enlargement and tortuosity of the deep subependymal and deep medullary veins, and occasionally bizarre courses of cerebral veins. The basis of the pattern appears to be nonfunction or absence of cortical veins beneath the Sturge-Weber leptomeningeal angiomatosis, with collateral flow centrally to the subependymal veins.