Cavernous sinus
Anatomy
Distal dural ring (green line) – lies 2mm distal to the optic strut (yellow arrow)
- Aneurysm proximal to this line do not cause SAH
Cavernous sinus disease
• Vascular
o Thrombosis
o Aneurysm
o Carotid-cavernous fistula
o Venous malformation
• Tumour
o Arise from CS
- Meningioma
- Schwannoma (arising from cranial nerve)
o Local invasion
- Pituitary tumours
- Skull base (e.g. chrondrosarcoma, chordoma)
o Metastatic
- Perineural spread (SCC)
- Haematogenous
• Inflammatory/infective
o Sarcoid
o IgG4
o GPA
o TB/fungal
o Tolosa Hunt