Spatial Aspect of the Mouse Orbital Venous Sinus Materials
Okajimas Folia Anat. Jpn., 56(6) : 329-336, March 1980 Spatial Aspect of the Mouse Orbital Venous Sinus By TOSHIO YAMASHITA, AKIRA TAKAHASHI and RYOHEI HONJIN Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920, Japan (Director : Prof. Dr. Ryohei Honjin) -Received for Publication, July 24, 1979- Key Words: Mouse orbit, Orbital venous sinus, Orbital vein, Orbital muscle Summary. The spatial aspect of the mouse orbital venous sinus and its topogra- phical relation to the venous system of the head were studied in serial sections by light microscopy. The orbital venous sinus was found to extend between the orbital wall and the muscle cone and had a huge invaginated sac, which began from the antero-medial part of the sinus and enveloped most of Harder's gland. The orbital venous sinus received almost all the venous drainage from the eyeball, muscle cone, Harder's gland and conjunctiva, and communicated with the cavernous sinus, ptery- goid plexus, superficial temporal vein and facial vein. The mouse orbital venous sinus may correspond to the human superior and in- ferior ophthalmic veins. As well as draining blood from the orbital contents, it may play a significant role in producing exophthalmos when on the alert, in absorb- ing shock from the exterior to the orbital contents, and in promoting secretion from Harder's gland. Introduction Materials and Methods A large venous sinus occupying much The heads of 3 adult mice, pure strain of the retrobulbar space was reported KH-1 (Mus wagneri var. albula), were under the name of the "orbital venous removed, immersed in a mixture of 75 ml sinus" in the dog by Ulbrich (1909) and 70% ethanol, 20 ml 35% formalin and 5 in the rabbit by Davis (1929).
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