Topoanatomic relations of the ophthalmic artery viewed in four horizontal layers

In the present paper we have studied the gross anatomy of the ophthalmic ar tery in 200 human cadaver dissections viewed in four horizontal layers. The ophthalmic artery can be divided into the origin, intracranial, intracanal icular and intraorbital parts. The most common origin of the artery was fro m the medial half of the anterior side of the internal carotid artery (ICA) in its upper curve (52%), followed by the medial half of the superior side (44%), and in only 4% from the medial side of the upper curve of the ICA. We have examined the topographic anatomy of the ophthalmic artery in detail , and found a rare anastomosis of the ophthalmic artery with the frontal br anch of the middle meningeal artery.