When Pfannenstiel1 described the first case of ruptured cerebral varix in 1887 he expressed the belief that the rupture was due to the intracranial congestion which occurred during eclamptic convulsions. In a second case studied by Kaufmann2 the rupture occurred during eclampsia, lending support to the theory that toxemia of pregnancy in some way predisposes to the formation of cerebral varices.
Amsler3 described two instances of cerebral varix, each occurring in the inconstant ophthalmomeningeal vein of Hyrtl. He expressed the belief that the anatomic position of this vein subjects it to possible trauma as it passes through the orbital fissure and that stasis in the vein itself or in the underlying sphenoparietal sinus might result in pressure of the vein against the sharp upper bony margin of the orbital fissure and in injury of the wall. Continued stasis might result in dilatation of the injured vein. However,