| dura mater of brain | The intracranial dura mater, consisting of two layers: the outer periosteal layer which normally always adheres to the periosteum of the bones of the cranial vault; and the inner meningeal layer which in most places is fused with the outer. The two layers separate to accommodate meningeal vessels and large venous (dural) sinuses. The meningeal layer is also involved in the formation of the various dural folds, such as the falx cerebri and tentorium cerebelli and is comparable to and continuous with the dural mater of the spinal cord. The cranial epidural space is then a potential space between the bone and the combined periosteum/periosteal layer of the dura mater realised only pathologically and is neither continuous with or comparable to the vertebral epidural space. Synonym: dura mater cranialis, dura mater encephali, cerebral part of dura mater, cranial epidural space. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| dura mater of spinal cord | Single-layered strong membrane, comparable to and continuous with (at foramen magnum) the meningeal layer of the intracranial dura mater of the brain. It does not (in contrast to the dura mater of brain) adhere to the enveloping bony structures (vertebrae) or their periosteum, being separated from the latter by a considerable space, the vertebral epidural space-a true space containing the internal vertebral venous plexus embedded in a matrix of epidural fat. Synonym: dura mater spinalis, endorrhachis, theca vertebralis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dura mater spinalis | Single-layered strong membrane, comparable to and continuous with (at foramen magnum) the meningeal layer of the intracranial dura mater of the brain. It does not (in contrast to the dura mater of brain) adhere to the enveloping bony structures (vertebrae) or their periosteum, being separated from the latter by a considerable space, the vertebral epidural space-a true space containing the internal vertebral venous plexus embedded in a matrix of epidural fat. Synonym: dura mater spinalis, endorrhachis, theca vertebralis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| filum of spinal dura mater | The thread-like termination of the spinal dura mater, surrounding and fused to the filum terminale of the cord, and attached to the deep dorsal sacrococcygeal ligament; extends from S2-3 to Co2 vertebral levels. Synonym: filum durae matris spinalis. (05 Mar 2000) |