THE OCCIPITOTEMPORAL VEIN - A CADAVER, MRI AND CT STUDY

The author studied a superficial temporal vein running anteroposteriorly within the occipitotemporal sulcus, the ''occipitotemporal vein'', which, when prominent, could be thought to simulate a ''venous angioma'' on MRI. A cadaver (n = 50), MRI (n = 200), and CT (n = 50) study was undertaken to examine the incidence, detectibility, size, location, and drainage of the occipitotemporal vein. It was an approximately 3 mm wide, 2-5 cm long structure. It was present in 83 % of the cadavers (52 % bilaterally), and clearly identifiable on 73 % of the MRI (43 % bilaterally), and 8 % of the CT studies. In 18 % of the cadavers the vein was totally absent, and it was not seen in 27 % of the MRI examinations. The occipitotemporal vein can be distinguished from a venous angioma by its particular location and course, and by lack of intraluminal bright signal on spin-echo T2-weighted and/or contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images. In addition, venous angiomas are usually intraparenchymal, whereas the occipitotemporal vein is a superficial vessel.