Abstract: Objective　To explore the drainage patterns of main venous plexus in internal jugular vein and the related influencing factors.  Methods   According to the DSA image data of 160 patients with cerebrovascular disease, the venous imaging of arteriography was analyzed. The main venous plexus of internal jugular vein was divided into anterior drainage mode (pterygoid plexus) and posterior drainage mode, and the posterior drainage mode was divided into plexus drainage mode (paravertebral venous plexus) and isolated venous drainage mode (dominated by deep jugular vein). The posterior plexus drainage mode could be subdivided into two groups: paravertebral venous plexus with obvious deep jugular venous drainage and paravertebral venous plexus without obvious deep jugular venous drainage. Based on the clinical data of the patients and related risk diseases, the factors affecting the drainage pattern of main venous plexus of internal jugular vein were analyzed by chi-square test.　Results　Bilateral internal carotid artery angiography showed a total of 320 internal jugular veins in 160 patients, of which 63 sides (accounting for 19.7%) as the wing plexus drainage, 54 sides (accounting for 16.9%) as the vertebral venous plexus near accompanied by obvious neck deep venous drainage, 50 sides (accounting for 15.6%) as the vertebral venous plexus with no apparent near the neck deep venous drainage, 10 sides (accounting for 3.1%) as the neck deep venous drainage, 13 sides (accounting for 5.7%) before and after the plexus drainage. The analysis of χ2 test  showed that age, abnormal internal jugular vein (hypoplasia, stenosis, occlusion), pressure trace of internal jugular vein and hypertension were independent risk factors for the pattern of internal jugular venous plexus drainage.　Conclusions　The drainage pattern of bilateral internal jugular vein plexus is mainly followed by posterior paravertebral venous plexus drainage, which can change the drainage pattern with relevant clinical influencing factors. This is of great value for the evaluation of skull base, neck surgery and nerve interventional therapy.

Key words: Internal jugular veins, 　Vertebral venous plexus, 　Pterygoid venous plexus, 　Extracranial venous outflow, 　Digital subtraction angiography