Cranial Nerves Flashcards
Function of CN1
Special sensory
Smell - assists with taste (not important)
Course of CN1
Olfactory bulb - Olfactory tract
Pathology of CN1
URTI
Compression = Meningioma
Fracture of anterior cranial fossa - check for CSF leakage
Clinical testing for CN1
Ask for anosmia - ‘‘Have you had any recent change in your sense of smell’’
CN2 exit
Optic canal
CN2 pathology
Blindness
Reduced visual acuity
Loss of colour vision
Clinical testing of CN2
Visual fields Visual acuity - Snellen chart Colour vision - ishihara plates Pupillary reflexes - RAPD etc Fundoscopy
Function of CN3
Somatic motor & PSNS (parasympathetic nervous system?)
CN3 exit
superior orbital fissure
What muscles does CN3 supply in the eye?
Superior, Medial & Inferior rectus
What other things do CN3 supply?
Levator palpabrae superioris - damage to this results in a droopy eyelid
(as part of being PSNS) - ciliary muscles, sphincter pupillae - they will lose the ability to constrict their pupil
What causes CN3 to become damaged
Raised ICP
Aneurysm of post cerebral artery
Diabetes, MS
Clinical signs of CN3 pathology
Eyeball ‘down & out’
Ptosis
Dilated pupil
Clinical testing of CN3
H test
CN4 function
somatic motor
CN4 exit
Superior orbital fissure
What muscle does CN4 supply
Superior oblique
What causes CN4 to become damaged?
Raised ICP
Cavernous sinus
Signs of CN4 pathology
Vertical diplopia - exacerbated when looking down
Head tilt away from affected side
CN6 function
Somatic motor
CN6 exit
Superior orbital fissure
CN6 supplies what?
Lateral rectus
What causes CN6 to become damaged?
Raised ICP
CN6 pathology signs
Horizontal diplopia
Abducted eye can’t be abducted past midline
Compensatory turning of head