Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus II: Cardiovascular System

Ophthalmic Artery Center

Ronald A. Bergman, PhD
Adel K. Afifi, MD, MS
Ryosuke Miyauchi, MD
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed

1. This branch of the internal carotid artery enters the orbit via the optic canal within the dural sheath of the optic nerve. It supplies the contents of the orbit.
2. Of its branches: the central a. to the retina is an end artery. Of the 8 or so posterior ciliary arteries, 6 supply the choroid which in turn nourishes the outer non-vascular layer of the retina; whereas 2 long posterior ciliary arteries, one on each side of the eyeball, run between sclera and choroid to anastomasose with anterior ciliary arteries, which are derived from muscular branches.
3. Six branches pass beyound the orbit (a) supratrochlear a. and (b) supraorbital a. to the forehead, (c) dorsal nasal a. to the face, (d) lacrimal a. to the eyelid and, via its zygomatic branches, to the cheek and the temporal region, and ( e and f) anterior and posterior ethmoidal aa. to the nasal cavity. These 6 arteries which extend beyond the orbit anastomose freely with branches of the external carotid artery.
4. The lacrimal artery commonly anastomoses with the middle meningeal artery, via the foramen lacrimale and may be derived from it.

From Grant, 1956.

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