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Anatomy of the Facial Nerve

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Facial Palsy

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Abstract

This chapter will briefly recapitulate the anatomy of the facial nerve. As the facial nerve emerges from cranial nerve (CN)7 as its motoric portion the first part will focus on the anatomical course and diverse targets of CN7. The second part of this chapter contains a detailed description of the facial nerve regarding intracerebral, intracranial, and extracranial anatomical and topological characteristics, and also functional aspects.

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Abbreviations

acf:

Anterior cranial fossa

an:

Great auricular nerve

ba:

Basilar artery

ca:

Internal carotid artery

cfd:

Cervicofacial division

ch:

Cerebellar hemisphere

cn2:

Optic nerve

cn3:

Oculomotor nerve

cn6:

Abducent nerve

cn7:

Facial nerve

cn8:

Vestibulocochlear nerve

eam:

Opening of external acoustic meatus

ejv:

External jugular vein

fa:

Facial artery

fv:

Facial vein

iam:

Ostium of internal acoustic meatus

in:

Infundibulum

jf:

Jugular foramen

la:

Labyrinthine artery

mcf:

Middle cranial fossa

me:

Transition zone of medulla spinalis to medulla oblongata

mm:

Masseter muscle

mp:

Mastoid process

ob:

Olfactory bulb

of:

Oval foramen

p:

Petrous part of temporal bone

pa:

Parotid gland

pcf:

Posterior cranial fossa

pl:

Platysma muscle

po:

Pons

rm:

Retromandibular vein

s:

Sella turcica

smf:

Stylomastoid foramen

sp:

Styloid process

sta:

Superficial temporal artery

tfa:

Transverse facial artery

tl:

Temporal lobe

va:

Vertebral artery

zm:

Zygomaticus major muscle

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank S. Meng and B. Maurer-Gesek for their support in image creation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Anatomy, MIC & CMI, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    U. M. Heber & W. J. Weninger

Authors
  1. U. M. Heber
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  2. W. J. Weninger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to U. M. Heber .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Hospital of Divine Savior (Krankenhaus Goettlicher Heiland), Sigmund Freud University, TZOU MEDICAL, Vienna, Austria

    Chieh-Han John Tzou

  2. Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery and Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Andrés Rodríguez-Lorenzo

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Heber, U.M., Weninger, W.J. (2021). Anatomy of the Facial Nerve. In: Tzou, CH.J., Rodríguez-Lorenzo, A. (eds) Facial Palsy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50784-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50784-8_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-50783-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50784-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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