The cavernous sinus - Embryological, anatomical and neuroradiological features

Knowledge on the cavernous sinus and parasellar and sellar region anatomy and embryology is constantly growing and has been, to date, described in detail. However, a truly introspective work summarising and correlating all of the most important anatomical, microsurgical and embryological aspects in a comprehensive mode is still largely lacking. Treatment of cavernous sinus lesions require an exact, three-dimensional mental picture of the region as it is in non-pathologically involved humans. This is possible only if there is a detailed knowledge not only of anatomical notions but also of the developmental processes as these influence the final aspect of an anatomical region. This work describes the structural as well as the topographic microsurgical anatomy of the bone structure, the dural architecture, the venous as well as the arterial system and the nervous structures that are present in this region. For each of these distinct anatomical features there is a comprehensive description of the primary and most important developmental processes that influence the final aspect of each of these anatomic structure, as well as of the whole region. A much more complex task arises when there is a pathological lesion in the region. Then one must be able to imagine the position and extension of the lesion inside the region considering the involvement or not of important anatomical structures. An erroneous interpretation of an anatomical variation as part of the pathology makes the difference in the final result of the treatment of various lesions in this region. For all of the reasons mentioned, the authors thought that a study involving all of the anatomical and developmental aspects of the region correlated with their neuroradiological interpretation might be of interest and help to the specialist involved in both surgical as well as endovascular treatment of the lesions in this highly complex anatomical region.