Communication of the anterior branch of the great auricular nerve with the cervical branch of facial nerve and its variant nerve endings deep in the parotid gland / Comunicación del ramo anterior del nervio auricular mayor con el ramo cervical del nervio facial y sus terminaciones nerviosas profundas variantes en la glándula parótida

The communications between the branches of cervical plexus and cervical branch of facial nerve are common and are well known. However, this communication usually occurs between the transverse cervical nerve and cervical branch of facial nerve. During routine dissection classes for the Medical undergraduate students, we came across an anatomical variant of anterior division of great auricular nerve. This variation was found in a 60-year-old male cadaver of South Indian origin and it was unilateral. The great auricular nerve arose from the loop of ventral rami of C2 and C3 spinal nerves and divided into anterior and posterior branches. The anterior branch ran obliquely upwards and forwards on the surface of the sternocleidomastoid muscle along with the external jugular vein towards the apex of parotid gland and divided into many branches. One of these branches gave a communicating branch to cervical branch of facial nerve outside the parotid gland. Nerve endings of the remaining branches were found to penetrate the interlobular septa and a few of them were seen deep in the gland along the ducts and near the vessels. The functional significance of anatomic variations of nerve endings in relation to ducts, thin vessels deep in the parotid gland, observed in the present case are yet to be evaluated...

Las comunicaciones entre los ramos del plexo cervical y ramo cervical del nervio facial son comunes y bien conocidos. Sin embargo, esta comunicación por lo general ocurre entre el nervio cervical transverso y el ramo cervical del nervio facial. Durante las clases de disección de rutina para los estudiantes de pregrado de medicina, nos encontramos con una variante anatómica de la división anterior del nervio auricular mayor, unilateral, en un cadáver de sexo masculino de 60 años, del Sur de la India. El nervio auricular mayor se originó desde el bucle de los ramos ventrales de los nervios espinales C2 y C3, y dividió en ramos anterior y posterior. El ramo anterior se dirigió oblicuamente hacia arriba y adelante sobre la superficie del músculo esternocleidomastoideo junto con la vena yugular externa hacia el ápice de la glándula parótida y se dividió en numerosos ramos terminales. Uno de estos ramos dió un ramo comunicante al ramo cervical del nervio facial fuera de la glándula parótida. Las terminaciones nerviosas de los ramos restantes penetraron en los septos interlobulares. Algunos de éstos se observaron profundos en la glándula a lo largo de los conductos y cerca de los vasos. La importancia funcional de las variaciones anatómicas de las terminaciones nerviosas en relación a los conductos y vasos finos profundos en la glándula parótida aquí observados aún no se han evaluado...

Double Facial Nerve Trunk Emerged from the Stylomastoid Foramen and Petrotympanic Fissure: A Case Report

There are several studies concerning branches of the facial nerve, but we encountered less information about the trunk of the facial nerve in the literature. During the routine dissection of a 65-yr-old Caucasian male cadaver, double facial nerve trunk emerged from the stylomastoid foramen and petrotympanic fissure were encountered. Because of an extremely rare variation, we presented this case report. In addition this cadaver had two buccal plexuses. These plexuses and other branches were formed to structures like to polygon. These anatomic peculiarities were described, photographed and illustrated. Finally, magnetic resonance imaging was performed by using 1.5T scanner to this cadaver. The facial nerve trunk can be damaged during surgical procedures of the parotid gland tumours and submandibular region. Surgeons who are willing to operate on this area should be aware of the possible anatomical variations of the facial nerve trunk.

Parotidectomy--a prospective study.

Preservation of facial nerve is a real challenge in parotidectomy. Total conservative parotidectomy and superficial parotidectomy are the commonly practised operations for parotid diseases. Twelve patients have undergone total conservative parotidectomy and 52 patients have undergone superficial perotidectomy with preservation of integrity and function of the facial nerve and its branches. Fifty-eight patients were suffering from neoplastic conditions of which 46 had pleomorphic adenoma, 7 had muco-epidermoid carcinoma, 3 had carcinoma ex-pleomorphic adenoma, and 2 had adenoid cystic carcinoma. Non-neoplastic conditions were seen in 6 cases of which 3 had chronic parotitis and 3 had congenital parotid fistula. The aim of the study was to observe the efficacy of preservation of facial nerve in parotidectomy done in 64 patients.

Inervaçäo adrenérgica da glândula parótida do rato na infecçäo chagásica experimental / Adrenergic innervation of the rat parotid gland in experimental Chagas infection

Estudou-se com a técnica do ácido glioxílico a inervaçäo adrenérgica da glândula parótida do rato aos 18 dias de infecçäo pelo Trypanosoma cruzi da cepa Y. Os resultados mostraram acentuada reduçäo na intensidade da fluorescência nos terminais adrenérgicos da glândula de todos os animais chagásicos estudados. Essa desnervaçäo provavelmente decorre da destruiçäo local dos terminais preferivelmente ao parasitismo ou a lesöes de neurônios do gânglio cervical superior