Falx cerebri
NervousOrgansHead
- What it is
- A sickle-shaped fold of dura hanging down into the longitudinal fissure between the hemispheres, from the crista galli in front to the internal occipital protuberance behind, where it joins the tentorium. Its free lower edge arches above the corpus callosum.
- Function
- Limits side-to-side movement of the hemispheres and carries the superior and inferior sagittal sinuses (and the straight sinus at its junction with the tentorium).
- Size
- About 3-4 cm deep at the back, narrow in front; ~15 cm long along its attached edge
- Clinical note
- A mass in one hemisphere can push the cingulate gyrus under the free edge of the falx (subfalcine herniation), compressing the anterior cerebral artery.