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Endoscopic endonasal anatomy of the ophthalmic artery in the optic canal

  • Clinical Article - Neurosurgical Anatomy
  • Published:
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Abstract

Background

The endoscopic endonasal opening of the optic canal has been recently proposed for tumors with medial invasion of this canal, such as tuberculum sellae meningiomas. Injury of the ophthalmic artery represents a dramatic risk during this maneuver. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the endoscopic endonasal anatomy of the precanalicular and canalicular portion of this vessel, discussing its clinical implication.

Methods

The course of the ophthalmic artery was analyzed through five endoscopic endonasal dissections, and 40 nonpathological consecutive MRAs were reviewed.

Results

The ophthalmic artery arises from the intradural portion of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery, in 93 % of cases about 1.9 mm (range: 1–3) posterior to the falciform ligament. At the entrance into the optic canal, the ophthalmic artery is located infero-medially to the optic nerve in 13 % of cases. In 50 % of these cases the artery moves infero-laterally along its course, remaining in a medial position in the others. In cases with an non medial entrance of the ophthalmic artery, it runs infero-lateral to the optic nerve for its entire canalicular portion, with just one exception.

Conclusion

The endoscopic endonasal approach gives a direct, extensive and panoramic view of the course of the precanalicular and canalicular portion of the ophthalmic artery. Dedicated high-field neuroimaging studies are of paramount importance in preoperative planning to evaluate the anatomy of the ophthalmic artery, reducing the risk of jeopardizing the vessel, particularly for those uncommon cases with an infero-medial course of the artery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Surgery for Pituitary Tumors and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery, Department of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche, Bologna, Italy

    Matteo Zoli, Rocco Bonfatti, Carmelo Sturiale, Giorgio Frank & Diego Mazzatenta

  2. Institute of Anatomy, DIBINEM, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Lucia Manzoli, Alessandra Ruggeri, Giulia Adalgisa Mariani, Anna Maria Billi & Lucio Cocco

  3. Department of Neuroradiology, IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche, Bologna, Italy

    Antonella Bacci

  4. ENT Department, Ospedale Bellaria, Bologna, Italy

    Ernesto Pasquini

Authors
  1. Matteo Zoli
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  2. Lucia Manzoli
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  3. Rocco Bonfatti
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  4. Alessandra Ruggeri
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  5. Giulia Adalgisa Mariani
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  6. Antonella Bacci
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  7. Carmelo Sturiale
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  8. Ernesto Pasquini
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  10. Giorgio Frank
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  11. Lucio Cocco
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  12. Diego Mazzatenta
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matteo Zoli.

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The authors state that the content of this article, in part or in full, has not been published previously and has not been submitted elsewhere for review. No financial support was received in conjunction with the generation of this submission, and there is no conflict of interest. The authors certify that this manuscript is a unique submission and is not being considered for publication with any other source in any medium. The authors have nothing to declare and nothing to disclose.

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No funding was received for this research.

Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study (observational retrospective) formal consent is not required.

Animal experiments

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors

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Zoli, M., Manzoli, L., Bonfatti, R. et al. Endoscopic endonasal anatomy of the ophthalmic artery in the optic canal. Acta Neurochir 158, 1343–1350 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-016-2797-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-016-2797-1

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