CN VI (ABDUCENS)-C. COURSE

SUMMARY

1. It emerges from the base of the pons, just above the pyramid.

2. It enters the prepontine cistern and turns upwards, pierces the arachnoid and dura on the clivus above the level of the jugular tubercle.

3. Runs up between the two layers of dura to enter the inferior petrosal sinus at the apex of the pterous temporal bone.

4. Here it passes underneath the petroclinoid ligament, to enter the cavernous sinus.

5. It runs straight through the cavernous sinus, on the lateral side of the ICA.

6. It exits the cavernous sinus through the annulus of Zihn.



Image: MARAIS, W; BARRETT, S. An overview of the third, fourth and sixth cranial nerve palsies. Continuing Medical Education, [S.l.], v. 31, n. 4, p. 147-152, mar. 2013. ISSN 2078-5143. Available at: [Accessed 19 Aug. 2019].

Reference(s)

R.M.H McMinn (1998). Last’s anatomy: regional and applied. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Get it on Amazon.
Drake, Richard L., et al. Gray's Anatomy for Students. Elsevier, 2023. Get it on Amazon.