Greater superficial petrosal nerve

Last revised by Craig Hacking on 13 Oct 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

E, Hacking C, Fahrenhorst-Jones T, et al. Greater superficial petrosal nerve. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://radiopaedia.org/articles/5059

DOI:

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/5059

rID:

5059

Article created:

27 Nov 2008, Essam

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Essam had no recorded disclosures.

View Essam's current disclosures

Last revised:

13 Oct 2022, Craig Hacking ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:

Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)

These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.

View Craig Hacking's current disclosures

Revisions:

13 times, by 9 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Central Nervous System

Sections:

Anatomy

Tags:

cases

Synonyms:

greater petrosal nerve

The greater (superficial) petrosal nerve originates at the geniculate ganglion, where the nervus intermedius and facial nerve join. It contains mainly preganglionic parasympathetic fibres and some sensory taste afferent fibres from the soft palate.

After leaving the geniculate ganglion it passes through a small hiatus in the petrous bone to reach middle cranial fossa, lying between the two layers of the dura mater. It passes towards foramen lacerum where it is joined by the deep petrosal nerve (sympathetic fibres from the internal carotid artery) to form the nerve of the pterygoid canal (a.k.a. Vidian nerve).

Its parasympathetic fibres relay in the pterygopalatine ganglion.