Superior ophthalmic vein
Vena ophthalmica superior
The main vein of the orbit, running from the inner corner of the eye back through the superior orbital fissure into the cavernous sinus.
At a glance
- English
- Superior ophthalmic vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena ophthalmica superior
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the superior ophthalmic vein
The superior ophthalmic vein is the larger of the two veins that drain the orbit. It begins near the inner corner of the eye from two roots: a connection with the angular vein that passes through the orbital septum, and, by way of the supraorbital notch, a link with the supraorbital vein. It is usually a few millimetres wide.
Unlike the ophthalmic artery, which enters through the optic canal, the vein forms a short single trunk and takes its own route. It runs backwards beneath superior rectus, crossing above the optic nerve from the medial to the lateral side, and leaves the orbit through the superior orbital fissure, in its upper portion, usually above the common tendinous ring of the rectus muscles. It then opens into the front of the cavernous sinus.
Its tributaries mostly mirror the branches of the ophthalmic artery. They include the anterior and posterior ethmoidal veins, the central retinal vein, the lacrimal vein, several vorticose veins from the eyeball, and muscular veins from superior and medial rectus. It thereby drains the retina, the lacrimal gland, the upper eye muscles and much of the orbit, sharing the load with the inferior ophthalmic vein, which often joins it before the sinus.
The vein has no effective valves, so it links the face and the cavernous sinus in both directions. Infection in the facial danger triangle, around the nose and upper lip, can track back along it and cause cavernous sinus thrombosis, endangering the cranial nerves in the sinus wall. In a carotid cavernous fistula, arterial blood is forced forwards into the vein, which swells and gives a bulging, pulsing eye; such fistulas can be closed by embolisation, sometimes through the vein itself.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Begins near the medial canthus from connections with the supraorbital and angular veins.
- Drains into
- Leaves the orbit through the superior orbital fissure and ends in the cavernous sinus.
- Drains
- Drains the retina, lacrimal gland, ethmoidal air cells, upper eye muscles and much of the orbit.
Anthromica
See the superior ophthalmic vein where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
