Vol. 124 No. 2 (2019)
Original Article

Topographical and surgical anatomy of third cranial nerve. A review

Vicky Konofaou
Neurosurgical Department, Children’s Hospital “P. & A. Kyriakou”, Athens
Evangelos Mavrommatis
Department of Anatomy, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Konstantinos Laios
Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Lagiou Efstathia
Medical School, University of Patras
Maria Piagkou
Department of Anatomy, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Christophe Destrieux
Service de Neurochirurgie et Laboratoire d’Anatomie, Faculté de Médecine, Tours

Published 2019-11-21

Keywords

  • oculomotor nerve,
  • neuroanatomy,
  • surgical anatomy,
  • neurosurgery

How to Cite

Konofaou, V., Mavrommatis, E., Laios, K., Efstathia, L., Piagkou, M., & Destrieux, C. (2019). Topographical and surgical anatomy of third cranial nerve. A review. Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, 124(2), 176–181. Retrieved from https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/ijae/article/view/10778

Abstract

Knowledge of the neuroanatomy of the third cranial nerve, oculomotor nerve, which provides motor innervation to four of the six extraocular muscles and the levator palpebrae superioris, and parasympathetic innervation to the sphincter pupillae and ciliary muscles, is critical for neurosurgical management of lesions located in the cavernous sinus or orbit. The oculomotor nerve itself has a complex anatomy regarding anatomical landmarks for its localization, considering the characteristics of the arachnoidal sleeve and cisterns that accompany the oculomotor nerve especially through the cavernous sinus. The aim of this review was to underline anatomical landmarks for localization of the ocumolotor nerve.