Jugular foramen
The jugular foramen (Latin for "throttle hole") is a large opening in the base of the skull through which some important conduction pathways reach the neck. It lies behind the passage of the internal carotid artery and is bounded in front by the petrous bone and in the back by the occiput . It's usually larger on the right side.
Structure and content
The jugular foramen can be divided into three sections (compartments):
- The anterior part (front part) contains the inferior petrosal sinus .
- The pars intermedia (middle part) contains the glossopharyngeal , vagus and accessory nerves, three cranial nerves (IX, X, XI) and the posterior meningeal artery , which supplies the meninges with arterial blood.
- The pars posterior (rear part) contains the sigmoid sinus , which becomes the eponymous internal jugular vein after it has passed through. There are also a few meninges of the arteria of the occipital artery and the ascending pharyngeal artery .
The pars anterior is separated from the pars intermedia by the petrobasilar ligament. Between the pars intermedia and the pars posterior lies the petrooccipital ligament.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (FCAT) (1998). Terminologia Anatomica . Stuttgart: Thieme