The trigeminal cave (also known as Meckel's cave or cavum trigeminale) is a pouch of dura mater containing

cerebrospinal fluid Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless Extracellular fluid#Transcellular fluid, transcellular body fluid found within the meninges, meningeal tissue that surrounds the vertebrate brain and spinal cord, and in the ventricular system, ven ...

Structure

The trigeminal cave is formed by the two layers of dura mater (endosteal and meningeal) which are part of an

evagination Endodermic evagination relates to the inner germ layers of cells of the very early embryo, from which is formed the lining of the digestive tract, of other internal organs, and of certain glands, implies the extension of a layer of body tissue to f ...

of the

cerebellar tentorium The cerebellar tentorium or tentorium cerebelli (Latin for "tent of the cerebellum") is one of four dural folds that separate the cranial cavity into four (incomplete) compartments. The cerebellar tentorium separates the cerebellum from the cere ...

near the apex of the petrous part of the

temporal bone The temporal bone is a paired bone situated at the sides and base of the skull, lateral to the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples where four of the cranial bone ...

. It envelops the

trigeminal ganglion The trigeminal ganglion (also known as: Gasserian ganglion, semilunar ganglion, or Gasser's ganglion) is the sensory ganglion of each trigeminal nerve (CN V). The trigeminal ganglion is located within the trigeminal cave (Meckel's cave), a cav ...

. It is bounded by the dura overlying four structures: #cerebellar tentorium superolaterally #lateral wall of the

cavernous sinus The cavernous sinus within the human head is one of the dural venous sinuses creating a cavity called the lateral sellar compartment bordered by the temporal bone of the skull and the sphenoid bone, lateral to the sella turcica. Structure The ...

superomedially # clivus medially #posterior petrous face inferolaterally Within the dural confines of the trigeminal cave, there is a continuation of subarachnoid space along the posterior aspect of the cave, representing a continuation of the cerebral basal cisterns.

History

Etymology

It is named for

Johann Friedrich Meckel, the Elder Johann Friedrich Meckel the Elder (31 July 1724 – 18 September 1774) was a German anatomist born in Wetzlar. He often has "the Elder" appended to his name to avoid confusion with his famous grandson Johann Friedrich Meckel (1781–1833), who was ...

.J. F. Meckel. Tractatus anatomico physiologicus de quinto pare nervorum cerebri. Göttingen 1748.

References

{{Authority control Meninges