Description
The vertebral ganglion is usually regarded as a detached part of the middle cervical or the cervicothoracic ganglion. It is usually located on the sympathetic trunk, anterior or anteromedial to the origin of the vertebral artery and directly above the subclavian artery.
When present, the vertebral ganglion connects to the cervicothoracic ganglion via nerve fibers which enclose the vertebral artery. It also joins to the ansa subclavia, which loops around the subclavian vessels. Normally, the ansa subclavia originates from the cervicothoracic ganglion and sends neural branches to the vertebral artery and the subclavian plexus of nerves (Tubbs, 2015).
The vertebral ganglion may supply gray rami communicantes to the anterior rami of the fourth and fifth cervical nerves (Tubbs, 2015).
References
Tubbs, R. S. (2015) Nerves and Nerve Injuries. Academic Press.
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Ganglion
A ganglion is defined as a collection of nerve cell bodies and glial cells that are interconnected via a dense network of neural rami and septae of connective tissue.
