Superior cervical ganglion
The ganglion cervicale superius (Latin for "upper neck ganglion"), known in animals as ganglion cervicale craniale ("front neck ganglion"), is a nerve cell node in the area of the second cervical vertebra between the musculus longus capitis and musculus digastricus . It is about 2.5 cm tall in humans. The ganglion is the switching station of the sympathetic nervous system for the head and the neck area near the head. The sympathetic root cells are the first in the chest segments spinal cord and get over the neck portion of the sympathetic trunk and the trunk vagosympathicus to the superior cervical ganglion.
Several nerve pathways lead from the superior cervical ganglion to their supply areas:
- Jugular nerve : This nerve controls the IX. and X. cranial nerves ( glossopharyngeal nerve and vagus nerve, respectively ) contribute sympathetic fibers.
- Internal carotid nerves : They wrap around the internal carotid artery and thus form the internal carotid plexus . From it originate the nervus petrosus profundus , which contributes sympathetic fibers to the nervus petrosus major of the 7th cranial nerve ( nervus facialis ) and fibers for the eye (via the ganglion ciliary ) and ear . The loss of the eye branches leads to Horner's syndrome .
- Nervi carotid externi : they form the external carotid artery to the carotid plexus externus , the sympathetic fibers over which the blood vessels spread on the head, and the common carotid artery to the carotid plexus communis .
- Rami communicantes : They connect the ganglion with the cervical plexus .
- Nervus cardiacus cervicalis superior : It contains pre- and postganglionic fibers to the cardiac plexus ( plexus cardiacus ).
literature
- Theodor H. Schiebler, Walter Schmidt: Anatomy: cytology, histology, history of development, macroscopic and microscopic human anatomy . 5th edition. Springer, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-662-05733-9 , pp. 502 .
- Franz-Viktor Salomon: nervous system, systema nervosum . In: Franz-Viktor Salomon, Hans Geyer and Uwe Gille (eds.): Anatomy for veterinary medicine . Enke, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8304-1007-7 , pp. 464-577 .