Case
About this case
Operative video: the Jugular Foramen. The background notes below summarise the anatomy, pathology and approach, with published references.
Reference notes
Background
Notes on this case’s cranial location, pathology and surgical approach, with published sources. General education only, not advice for any individual patient.
Cranial Location
Jugular Foramen
The jugular foramen transmits the internal jugular vein and cranial nerves IX, X and XI at the junction of the temporal and occipital bones. Lesions here — paragangliomas (glomus jugulare), schwannomas and meningiomas — cause lower-cranial-nerve palsies such as hoarseness and dysphagia.
Surgery is complex because of the confluence of neural, venous and arterial structures, and often uses combined infratemporal and transmastoid approaches with continuous cranial-nerve monitoring.