Journal of the Chinese Medical Association
Volume 72, Issue 10 , Pages 515-520, October 2009

Sectional Anatomy of the Optic Pathways on the Coronal Plane

  • Cheng-Chun Chen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Anatomy, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, Shanghai, China
    • Cheng-Chun Chen and Fei Huang contributed equally to this work.
    • ,
  • Fei Huang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Anatomy, Binzhou Medical College, Yantai, Shanghai, China
    • Cheng-Chun Chen and Fei Huang contributed equally to this work.
    • ,
  • Hua-Xin Shao

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Anatomy, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, Shanghai, China
    • ,
  • Jian-Hua Jin

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Anatomy, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, Shanghai, China
    • ,
  • Zhen-Ping Li

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Anatomy, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shanghai, China
    • ,
  • Chuan-Sen Zhang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Anatomy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Dr Chuan-Sen Zhang, Department of Human Anatomy, Second Military Medical University, 800, Xiangyin Road, Shanghai 200433, China

Received 10 February 2009; accepted 26 August 2009.

Article Outline

Background

The purpose of this study was to provide practical data for the imaging diagnosis of the optic pathways.

Methods

Sectional anatomy of the optic pathways on the coronal plane was investigated on 15 sets of serial coronal sections of the head of Chinese adult cadavers and 6 sets of serial coronal magnetic resonance imaging of normal adults.

Results

On the coronal plane, we recognized the special structures of optic pathways by 5 key sections. (1) The midorbital optic nerve lay superomedially in the center of the adipose body of the orbit, surrounded by the subarachnoid space and the sheath of the optic nerve. (2) The optic chiasma was transverse between the optic and infundibular recesses of the portion of the floor of the third ventricle and it lay below the A1 segment of the anterior cerebral artery and above the tuber cinereum and the pituitary stalk, C2 or C3 segment of the internal carotid artery laterally. (3) The optic tract lay between the crus cerebri and the amygdaloid, the tail of the caudate nucleus laterally. The anterior choroidal artery inferiorly and downward M2 segment of the middle cerebral artery lay between the uncus and the crus cerebri. (4) The lateral geniculate body lay between the crus cerebri medially and the tail of the caudate nucleus laterally, the uncus and P2 segment of the posterior cerebral artery inferiorly. (5) The optic radiation formed the lateral wall of the lateral ventricle both in the temporal horn and in the occipital horn. The optic radiation was separated from the wall of the occipital horn by the tapetum, a thin layer of fibers derived from the splenium of the corpus callosum. Coronal sectional anatomy and magnetic resonance imaging of the optic pathways revealed similar results.

Conclusion

This study provides a good understanding of the structures of the optic pathways by correlation of coronal sections of the head of adult cadavers with the coronal magnetic resonance images of normal adults. [J Chin Med Assoc 2009;72(10):515–520]

Key Words:  magnetic resonance imaging , optic pathways , sectional anatomy

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PII: S1726-4901(09)70420-4

doi:10.1016/S1726-4901(09)70420-4

Journal of the Chinese Medical Association
Volume 72, Issue 10 , Pages 515-520, October 2009

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