Sinus pericranii is the name most frequently used in the European literature to designate a blood cyst or hemangioma of the pericranium communicating with an intracranial blood sinus by one or more abnormal foramina in the skull.
Clinically, sinus pericranii presents a soft, compressible, fluctuant swelling which increases in size when the patient assumes a posture with the head down, when he flexes his neck sharply, or when he raises his intrathoracic pressure by coughing, crying or making an expiratory effort with the glottis closed. Digital compression of the jugular veins also causes the swelling to grow larger. Indeed, the lesion may not be apparent unless some of the factors that increase intracranial venous pressure are active. A bluish color is sometimes visible through the skin over the swelling, but when it is not, the tumor is easily mistaken by the unwary for a meningocele. The roentgenogram of the skull