Macroanatomy of the cranial cervical ganglion in Angora goats

Abstract

The cranial cervical ganglia (CCG) in the heads of six adult (three male and three female) Angora goats were dissected in detail. The ganglion was located on the ventral aspect of the tympanic bulla, cranio-ventral to the atlas, medio-ventral to the jugular process and lateral to the longus capitis muscle. The branches of the ganglion were the internal and external carotid nerves, the jugular and laryngopharyngeal nerves and the connecting branches to the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerve. The internal carotid nerve arose as three branches (cranial, caudal and medial) from the cranial region of the ganglion. The cranial branch, the profound petrosal nerve, entered the pterygoid canal. The caudal branch terminated at the trigeminal ganglion. The medial branch terminated at the cavernous sinus. The other cranial branch ramifying from the cranial region of the ganglion was the jugular nerve. The internal carotid and laryngopharyngeal nerves arose from the caudal region of the ganglion. In conclusion, compared with published data on other species, we found differences in the number and courses of the branches ramifying from the CCG of Angora goats and in the branches connected to the vagus, glossopharyngeal and hypoglossal nerves.