Trigeminal cave

The trigeminal cave (also known as Meckel's cave or cavum trigeminale) is a pouch of dura mater containing cerebrospinal fluid.

Structure

The trigeminal cave is formed by the two layers of dura mater (endosteal and meningeal) which are part of an evagination of the cerebellar tentorium near the apex of the petrous part of the temporal bone. It envelops the trigeminal ganglion. It is bounded by the dura overlying four structures:

1. cerebellar tentorium superolaterally
2. lateral wall of the cavernous sinus superomedially
3. clivus medially
4. posterior petrous face inferolaterally

Within the dural confines of the trigeminal cave, there is a continuation of subarachnoid space along the posterior aspect of the cave, representing a continuation of the cerebral basal cisterns.

History

Etymology

It is named for Johann Friedrich Meckel, the Elder.

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 886 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)