Anterior ethmoidal nerve at a glance
- What it is
- The anterior ethmoidal nerve is a terminal sensory branch of the nasociliary nerve (V1) supplying the anterior nasal cavity and nose.
- Location
- It leaves the orbit through the anterior ethmoidal foramen, crosses the anterior cranial fossa, and descends into the nasal cavity through a slit beside the crista galli.
- Function
- It is purely sensory: it supplies the anterior ethmoidal air cells, the anterior part of the nasal septum and lateral wall, and, as the external nasal nerve, the skin of the tip of the nose.
- Body system
- Nervous · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA52677 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Branch of the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve (CN V1).
- Accompanied by the anterior ethmoidal artery.
Clinical relevance
Herpes zoster vesicles on the tip of the nose (Hutchinson sign) suggest involvement of the nasociliary nerve and a higher risk of ocular complications.
Structures next to the anterior ethmoidal nerve
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Nasociliary nerve · nervous
- Medial rectus · muscular
- Ophthalmic artery · cardiovascular
- Long ciliary nerve · nervous
- Superior rectus · muscular
- Short ciliary nerve · nervous
- Superior oblique · muscular
- Superior branch of oculomotor nerve · nervous
- Levator palpebrae superioris · muscular
- Communicating branch of nasociliary nerve with ciliary ganglion · nervous
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Anterior ethmoidal nerve (FMA52677). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §12.1 Basic Structure and Function of the Nervous System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
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