Walsh & Hoyt: Meningeal Veins

The small venous channels that drain the dura mater covering the brain are the meningeal veins. They are actually small sinuses that accompany the meningeal arteries, usually in pairs (venae comitantes). The largest meningeal veins accompany the middle meningeal artery. The meningeal veins receive blood from the diploic veins of the calvarium and from some of the cortical veins. Depending on their location, the meningeal veins drain into the large dural sinuses at the base of the skull or into the superior sagittal sinus and its venous lacunae.