Venous drainage of the spinal cord is accomplished through a complex network of venous structures and in certain aspects is analogous to the arterial supply of the spinal cord (Fig. 26.1). Breschet divided the vertebral venous system into three interconnecting components: An internal division within the spinal canal, a division within the vertebrae connecting the internal and external divisions, and an external division surrounding the spine (Breschet 1819, 1828–1832; Nathoo et al. 2011). Around the same time, Cruveilhier (1836) recognized the importance of this system as collateral network with inferior vena cava occlusion. Harris credits for the first description of the concept that blood passes through the vertebral venous system in either direction due to the absence of valves even though Breschet had first described it a few decades earlier (Harris 1941). Batson (1940) made significant contributions to the understanding of the vertebral venous system. Batson’s studies also showed that during a physiologic Valsalva maneuver, blood flow is redirected from the body cavities into the mostly valveless vertebral venous system challenging Harvey’s “paradigm of circular flow” (Harvey 1894; Herlihy 1947). The term “Batson’s plexus” encompasses the extradural, internal, and external vertebral venous plexuses proximal to the intervertebral vein and the extraspinal efferent (Batson 1940). Anderson (1951) demonstrated shunting of blood from into the vertebral venous system in studies on living humans (Anderson 1951). More recently, Tobinick and Vega (2006) proposed the term “cerebrospinal venous system” emphasizing the continuity between the cerebral and vertebral venous systems (Tobinick and Vega 2006).