ISSN:
0003-276X
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
To supply some additional data about the intra-osseous connections of the seventh nerve in a potentially available experimental animal, the baboon, 16 neuromuscular complexes (otic ganglion, nerve which results from the junction between the lesser petrosal nerve and the and the communicating branch, lesser petrosal nerve, communicating branch, initial part of the greater petrosal nerve, all three intra-osseous parts of the facial nerve, stapedius muscle, auricular branch of the vagus) were macroscopically evaluated with the aid of a microdissecting scope, and removed in toto. Two dissections were achieved only partially. Each neuromuscular complex was fixed in 5% formalin, dehydrated, embedded in paraffin, sectioned serially at 10 to 15 μ, and either stained with Luxol Fast Blue or impregnated by Bodian's silver technique. In all specimens considered, the auricular branch of the vagus, before it joined the descending intra-osseous part of the facial nerve, gave off an ascending bundle. This bundle sent a few ramifications to the stapedius muscle and finally mixed with axones in the intra-osseous segment of the seventh nerve close to the second facial genu. The fibers in the ascending bundle were predominately myelinated with a diameter varying from 1.7 μ to 9.9 μ. The communicating branch proper separated from the fibers of the second intra-osseous part of the facial nerve, and continued anteriorly through the sheath toward the geniculate ganglion. From there, the branch as an isolated bundle extended further anteriorly to reach the otic ganglion, after it joined the lesser petrosal nerve. The number of fibers in the communicating branch ranged from 50 to 580, and the diameter of myelinated fibers varied between 1.7 and 4.4 μ. Numerous ganglion cells, presumably of the autonomic type, found in the communicating branch, in the lesser petrosal nerve, and occasionally in the second intra-osseous part of the facial nerve resembled by their form and diameter the ganglion cells in the otic ganglion.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ar.1091680403
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