Jugular foramen

Jugular foramen
Base of skull. Inferior surface. (label for jugular foramen is at right, third from the bottom)
Gray's	subject #46 181

The jugular foramen is a large aperture in the base of the skull. It is located behind the carotid canal and is formed in front by the petrous portion of the temporal, and behind by the occipital; it is generally larger on the right than on the left side.

Contents

The jugular foramen may be subdivided into three compartments, each with their own contents.

• The anterior compartment transmits the inferior petrosal sinus.
• The intermediate transmits the glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves (aka cranial nerves number IX, X, and XI respectively).
• The posterior transmits the sigmoid sinus (becoming the internal jugular vein) and some meningeal branches from the occipital and ascending pharyngeal arteries.

An alternative imaging based subclassification exist, using the jugular spine, which is a bony ridge partially separating the jugular foramen, into two parts.

• The smaller, anteromedial, "pars nervosa" compartment contains CN IX, Jacobson nerve (or the tympanic nerve, a branch of CN IX), and receives the venous return from inferior petrosal sinus.
• The larger, posterolateral, "pars vascularis" compartment contains CN X, CN XI, Arnold's nerve (or the auricular branch of CN X involved in the Arnold's reflex, where external auditory meatus stimulation causes cough), jugular bulb, posterior meningeal artery (branch of vertebral artery), and meningeal branch of ascending pharyngeal artery.

Clinical significance

Obstruction can result in "Vernet's syndrome".

Additional images

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  Jugular foramen

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  Base of the skull. Upper surface.

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External links

• SUNY Figs 22:5b-12
• SUNY Figs 22:4a-08
• cranialnerves at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (IX, XI)
• Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, at Elsevier 34257.000-1
• UCSD

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.