Corpus: Meningeal branch

A meningeal ramus is a vascular or nerve branch that supplies the meninges.

• Meningeal branch of the internal carotid artery (pars cerebralis): This branch supplies the cranial dura mater in the area of the cavernous sinus and neighboring regions.
• Anterior meningeal artery (branch of the anterior ethmoidal artery): This artery supplies the dura mater at the back of the frontal bone and the medial sections of the dura mater on the floor of the anterior cranial fossa. One branch, the falcate artery, supplies the anterior sections of the falx cerebri.
• Meningeal branch of the posterior ethmoidal artery: This irregular branch supplies the dura mater dorsal to the anterior meningeal branch of the anterior ethmoidal artery.
• Meningeal branch of the occipital artery: This branch usually enters the dura mater of the posterior cranial fossa through the mastoid foramen.
• Meningeal branch of the vertebral artery: This branch supplies sections of the dura mater on the inside of the occipital bone.

• Meningeal branches of the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves: These branches enter the cranial cavity through the jugular foramen and supply the dura mater of the posterior cranial fossa (except the clivus area).
• Meningeal branch of the mandibular nerve (V3): This branch enters the cranial cavity through the foramen spinosum and supplies the entire parietal dura mater up to the falx cerebri.
• Meningeal branch of the vagus nerve: This branch leads somatosensory information from the dura mater to the superior ganglion of the vagus nerve.
• Meningeal branch of the maxillary nerve (V2): This branch branches off intracranially before the maxillary nerve passes through the foramen rotundum to supply the dura mater of the middle cranial fossa.
• Recurrent meningeal branch of the ophthalmic nerve (V1): This branch branches off in the cavernous sinus and supplies the neighboring dura mater. A main branch, the tentorial branch, runs into the tentorium cerebelli. Another branch from the anterior ethmoidal nerve supplies parts of the dura mater of the anterior cranial fossa.
• Meningeal branches of the spinal nerves: The branches of the cervical spinal nerves (C1-3) enter the dura mater through the foramen magnum and partly through the hypoglossal canal, mainly supplying the clivus area. The meningeal branches of the other spinal nerves enter the spinal dura mater retrogradely through the intervertebral foramina.