Posterior intercavernous sinus
Sinus intercavernosus posterior
Definition
The intercavernous sinuses connect the two cavernous sinuses across the middle line and they form with the cavernous sinuses a venous circle (circular sinus) around the hypophysis..
The intercavernous sinuses are three in number:
The anterior intercavernous sinus sinus passes in front of the hypophysis cerebri. The anterior one is usually the larger of the three.
The posterior intercavernous sinus passes in behind of the hypophysis cerebri .
The inferior intercavernous sinus is located below the pituitary gland in the sella turcica. Its presence has been controversial among anatomists because it is not always found on radiological imaging or during cadaveric dissections (in 26 % of specimens for Wahl et al.).
References
Text by Antoine Micheau, MD - Copyright IMAIOS
Wahl L, Lockwood JD, Keet K, Henry BM, Gielecki J, Iwanaga J, Bui CJ, Dumont AS, Tubbs RS. The inferior intercavernous sinus: An anatomical study with application to trans-sphenoidal approaches to the pituitary gland. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2020 Sep;196:106000. doi: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2020.106000. Epub 2020 Jun 6. PMID: 32574965.
This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from http://www.bartleby.com/107/).
