Foramen Ovale (skull) - Contents

Contents

Several nerves, arteries and veins pass through the foramen ovale. They are as follows:

  • Mandibular nerve (the third branch (V3) of the trigeminal nerve)
  • Accessory meningeal artery (small meningeal or parvidural branch, sometimes derived from the middle meningeal artery)
  • Lesser petrosal nerve of (CN IX) (note: the lesser superficial petrosal nerve sometimes passes through a special canal (canaliculus innominatus of Arnold), situated medial to the foramen spinosum)
  • Emissary veins (from the cavernous sinus to the pterygoid plexus)
  • The otic ganglion is situated directly under the foramen, but is also transmitted through the foramen ovale.

The contents of this foramen neatly form the mnemonic 'OVALE' (otic ganglion, V3, accessory meningeal artery, lesser petrosal nerve, emissary veins)

Read more about this topic:  Foramen Ovale (skull)

Famous quotes containing the word contents:

    The permanence of all books is fixed by no effort friendly or hostile, but by their own specific gravity, or the intrinsic importance of their contents to the constant mind of man.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    Conversation ... is like the table of contents of a dull book.... All the greatest subjects of human thought are proudly displayed in it. Listen to it for three minutes, and you ask yourself which is more striking, the emphasis of the speaker or his shocking ignorance.
    Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)

    Such as boxed
    Their feelings properly, complete to tags
    A box for dark men and a box for Other
    Would often find the contents had been scrambled.
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)