The middle cervical ganglion is the smallest of the three
cervical ganglia
The cervical ganglia are paravertebral ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system. Preganglionic nerves from the thoracic spinal cord enter into the cervical ganglions and synapse with its postganglionic fibers or nerves. The cervical ganglion has ...
, and is occasionally absent. It is placed opposite the sixth
cervical vertebra
In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In sau ...
, usually in front of, or close to, the
inferior thyroid artery
The inferior thyroid artery is an artery in the neck. It arises from the thyrocervical trunk and passes upward, in front of the vertebral artery and longus colli muscle. It then turns medially behind the carotid sheath and its contents, and als ...
. It sends
gray rami communicantes
Each spinal nerve receives a branch called a gray ramus communicans (plural rami communicantes) from the adjacent paravertebral ganglion of the sympathetic trunk. The gray rami communicantes contain postganglionic nerve fibers of the sympathetic ne ...
to the fifth and sixth cervical nerves, and gives off the
middle cardiac nerve
The middle cardiac nerve (''great cardiac nerve''), the largest of the three cardiac nerves, arises from the middle cervical ganglion, or from the trunk between the middle and inferior ganglia.
On the right side it descends behind the common car ...
.
It is probably formed by the coalescence of two
ganglia
A ganglion is a group of neuron cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system. In the somatic nervous system this includes dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia among a few others. In the autonomic nervous system there are both sympatheti ...
corresponding to the fifth and sixth
cervical nerves
A spinal nerve is a mixed nerve, which carries motor, sensory, and autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In the human body there are 31 pairs of spinal nerves, one on each side of the vertebral column. These are grouped into the ...
.
Branches
# Gray Rami Communicantes to the anterior rami of the fifth and sixth cervical nerves.
# Thyroid Branches which pass along the inferior thyroid artery to the thyroid gland.
# The middle cardiac branch, which descends in the neck and ends in the cardiac plexus in the thorax
See also
*
Middle cardiac nerve
The middle cardiac nerve (''great cardiac nerve''), the largest of the three cardiac nerves, arises from the middle cervical ganglion, or from the trunk between the middle and inferior ganglia.
On the right side it descends behind the common car ...
External links
* ()
* - "The Sympathetic Trunk and Cervical Ganglia"
* Clinical Anatomy by Richard S. Snell seventh edition page 744
Autonomic ganglia
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