Sympathetic Innervation To The Head And Neck

Describe the Cervical Sympathetic Chain in brief and discuss its applied anatomy.
Answer.

“Early Signs Of Sympathetic Innervation Dysfunction”

Cervical Sympathetic Chain Location and extent

Cervical Sympathetic Chain is part of the sympathetic chain that lies in front of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae and neck of 1st rib.
Cervical Sympathetic Chain continues upwards into the carotid canal as internal carotid nerve and downwards as thoracic part of the sympathetic chain.

“Importance Of Sympathetic Innervation In Head And Neck Function”

Cervical Sympathetic Chain Ganglia

The cervical sympathetic chain possesses three ganglia:

Superior cervical ganglion: It lies in front of the transverse processes of C2 and C3, and represents the fused C1 to C4 primitive ganglia.
Middle cervical ganglion: It lies in front of the transverse process of C6 and represents the fused C5 and C6 primitive ganglia.
Inferior cervical ganglion: It lies in front of the transverse process of C7 and neck of 1st rib, and represents the fused ganglia of C7 and C6 primitive ganglia. It often fuses with T1 ganglion to form stellate ganglion.

“Understanding The Role Of The Sympathetic Chain In Head And Neck Innervation”

Cervical Sympathetic Chain Applied anatomy

Horner syndrome occurs due to the lesion of cervical sympathetic chain involving T1 fibres supplying head and neck.

Horner syndrome Clinical features

“The Role Of Imaging In Diagnosing Sympathetic Innervation Issues Accurately”