Summary
Section of the nervus intermedius in the cerebellopontine angle, which can cure some cases of facial neuralgia, is made difficult by the anatomical variability of the nerve, by its intimate relationships with the 7th and 8th cranial nerves and by the connections that the nervus intermedius develops with this nerves.
This anatomical study of the neurovascular complex of the cerebello-pontine angle showed that the operating microscope facilitates recognition of the nervus intermedius and that the most suitable point for section lies 5 mm from the internal auditory foramen, i.e. immediately before the junction with the 7th nerve. Attention is also drawn to the relationships that this segment of nerve contracts with the afferent branch of the cerebello-labyrinthine arterial loop, from the apex of which the labyrinthine branch arises.
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Fortuna, A., La Torre, E. & Formni, C. The cisternal segment of the nervus intermedius of Wrisberg: An anatomical study under the operating microscope. Acta neurochir 27, 53–62 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01402173
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01402173