Author/Editor		Vranič, Andrej
Title		Mikrokirurška anatomija tretjega možganskega živca
Type		monografija
Place		Ljubljana
Publisher		Univerza v Ljubljani, Medicinska fakulteta
Publication year		2000
Volume		str. 42
Language		slo
Abstract		The third cranial nerve (oculomotor nerve, nerve III) is the most important nerve for the ocular muscles. Innervating five out of seven of the external ocular muscles, nerve III also contains parasympathetic nerve fibres for the two internal ocular muscles: the constrictor pupillae muscle and the ciliar muscle. In its distal part, nerve III passes from the wall of the cavernous sinus through the superior orbital fissure (SOF) into the orbital apex where it ramifies and where its branches approach the ocular muscles. The microanatomical studies of this area published so far have been predominantly made on fixed cadaveric specimens, limited to the topographical relations in the SOF only, and therefore do not contain quantitative data about the length of individual segments of nerve III. It remains unclear whether nerve III splits into two branches in the wall of the cavernous sinus, in the SOF or in the orbital apex. It is atso not yet known whether nerve III contains sympathetic nerve fibres from the plexus around the internal carotid artery and/or sensoric fibres from the proprioceptors in the ocular muscles. The purpose of the research was to assess the course of nerve III through the SOF and the orbital apex, to determine the relations between nerve III and the surrounding anatomical structures in the middle cranial fossa, to define the site where nerve III divides into two branches, and also to determine whether nerve III contains sympathetic and sensoric fibres. The microanatomy of nerve III was explored on 40 fresh cadaveric specimens of the central part of the cranial base. The anatomical dissections were performed with microsurgical instruments, using the operation microscope. The dura was separated from the medial cranial fossa, and the anterior clinoid process was then removed. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters)
Descriptors		OCULOMOTOR NERVE MICROSURGERY ORBIT CADAVER CAVERNOUS SINUS SKULL BASE