Cavernous sinus contents (mnemonic)
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The structures inside and beside the cavernous sinus and their relative position can be recalled with the following mnemonic:
- O TOM CAT
Consider a coronal view of the cavernous sinus.
'O TOM' are the first letters of components of lateral wall of cavernous sinus considered vertically, from the top to the bottom. CA are the first letters of the structures located within the sinus. CA continues virtually at the level of the T of 'O TOM'. So that the T represents the point of conjunction of the two words. See below for further illustration:
O O T A C C A T O O M M
Mnemonics
O TOM CAT
Remember two things:
- the mandibular branch of trigeminal nerve is not associated with thecavernous sinus since it has descended vertically through the foramen ovale underneath the trigeminal ganglion (Gasser ganglion), which is anatomically posteriorly to the cavernous sinus
-
the two branches, opthalmic andThe maxillary branch of trigeminal nerveare located externally tois external -- but immediately adjacent -- to the lateral wall of the cavernous sinus, which becomes important in the differential diagnosis of lesions of the cavernous sinus - lesions ofthese nerves tendthis nerve tends to distort the sinus rather than occupy it
-<li>the <a href="/articles/mandibular-branch">mandibular branch</a> of <a href="/articles/trigeminal-nerve">trigeminal nerve</a> is not associated with the <a href="/articles/cavernous-sinus">cavernous sinus</a> since it has descended vertically through the <a href="/articles/foramen-ovale-head">foramen ovale</a> underneath the <a href="/articles/trigeminal-ganglion">trigeminal ganglion</a> (Gasser ganglion), which is anatomically posteriorly to the <a href="/articles/cavernous-sinus">cavernous sinus</a>- +<li>the <a href="/articles/mandibular-branch">mandibular branch</a> of <a href="/articles/trigeminal-nerve">trigeminal nerve</a> is not associated with the <a href="/articles/cavernous-sinus">cavernous sinus</a> since it has descended vertically through the <a href="/articles/foramen-ovale-head-1">foramen ovale</a> underneath the <a href="/articles/trigeminal-ganglion">trigeminal ganglion</a> (Gasser ganglion), which is anatomically posteriorly to the <a href="/articles/cavernous-sinus">cavernous sinus</a>
-<li>the two branches, opthalmic and maxillary of trigeminal nerve are located externally to the wall of the cavernous sinus, which becomes important in the differential diagnosis of lesions of the cavernous sinus - lesions of these nerves tend to distort the sinus rather than occupy it</li>- +<li>The maxillary branch of trigeminal nerve is external -- but immediately adjacent -- to the lateral wall of the cavernous sinus, which becomes important in the differential diagnosis of lesions of the cavernous sinus - lesions of this nerve tends to distort the sinus rather than occupy it</li>
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