Superior Oblique Muscle - Origin and Insertion

Origin and Insertion

The origin for the superior oblique is the Annulus of Zinn. It loops through a pulley-like structure (the trochlea of superior oblique) and inserts into the sclera on the posterotemporal surface of the eyeball. It is the pulley system that gives superior oblique its actions, causing depression of the eyeball despite being inserted on its top.

It arises immediately above the margin of the optic foramen, above and medial to the origin of the superior rectus, and, passing forward, ends in a rounded tendon, which plays in a fibrocartilaginous ring or pulley attached to the trochlear fovea of the frontal bone.

The contiguous surfaces of the tendon and ring are lined by a delicate mucous sheath, and enclosed in a thin fibrous investment.

The tendon is reflected backward, lateralward, and downward beneath the superior rectus to the lateral part of the bulb of the eye, and is inserted onto the scleral surface, behind the equator of the eyeball, the insertion of the muscle lying between the superior rectus and Rectus lateralis.