Median prosencephalic vein

Last revised by Francis Deng on 28 Dec 2020

The median prosencephalic vein (of Markowski) is a precursor to the vein of Galen; typically before birth, its anterior portion regresses with formation of the internal cerebral veins and its posterior portion persists as the vein of Galen. If an arterio-venous fistula exists, it balloons out to become the 'aneurysmal' vein of Galen malformation. This occurs because the vein is thin walled, lies free within the subarachnoid space, and is unable to accommodate the arterial flow.

History and etymology

Józef Markowski (1874-1947) was a professor of descriptive and topographical anatomy at the University of Lviv (then in Poland, now Ukraine) 4. He described the development of the cranial sinuses in 1911 and 1922 5,6. The vena mediana prosencephali was named the median vein of Markowski by Hochstetter in 1938 7.

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