Morphological examination of the domestic cat’s cervicothoracic ganglion in ontogenesis

Abstract

The cervicothoracic ganglion belongs to the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system. It is responsible for transmitting signals from the central nervous system to the organs of the thorax. Its most important function is to transmit impulses modulating heart activity. We present the results of an anatomical study that was conduct on 33 domestic cats from three age groups. The results allow us to determine which changes occur in the morphology of the cervicothoracic ganglion during the development of the domestic cat and those that occur already in adult life . The variability of this structure manifests itself in the shape, location and size of the bilateral ganglia. There is also a difference in the course of the cardiac branches and of the bilateral ganglia. In adult cats, the predominant location of the ganglion was the first intercostal space. In contrast, in young cats and fetuses, the ganglia were more distributed between the first and second intercostal spaces. Additionally, the younger the cat, the more often the ganglia occurred under the second rib. The ganglia in domestic cats show some similarities with other species, but retain species-specific features such as the direction of propagation of the subclavian loop fibres.