bilateral transverse sinus stenosis

I picked up my recrords from the the hospital the other day and on my mri report it said bilateral transverse sinus stenoses are suggested on this exam. Could you help me understand what this is or means?

[noops01]

Hi,
Bilateral transverse sinus stenosis is usually seen in patients with raised intracranial pressure. Please elaborate your symptoms and also the reason for MRI.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello Layla.

Let me make it a little simpler for you. A "sinus" in the brain means a blood vessel, usually large, which carries blood from the brain tissue back to the heart. So, it is like a vein in the rest of the body. And there are different sinuses, named according to their position in the brain. Transverse sinus in particular, lies on the two sides of the brain. (Imagine you are wearing a cap... the rim of the cap coincides with the transverse sinuses, more or less. )

Stenosis refers to a decrease in the diameter of a blood vessel, or an orifice. Here, the diameter of the transverse sinus will be reduced if the pressure outside it increases. That pressure is the intra-cranial pressure(ICP). If the ICP rises, stenosis will occur.

Migraine may also lead to a bilateral transverse sinus stenosis.

Regards