Superior cervical cardiac nerve - Mediastinum - Sympathetic trunk - e-Anatomy
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Superior cervical cardiac nerve

Nervus cardiacus cervicalis superior

Definition

Superior cervical cardiac nerve is a visceral branch of the superior cervical ganglion which provides postganglionic sympathetic innervation to the cardiac tissue.

The superior cervical ganglion is the highest ganglion of the cervical part of the sympathetic trunk. It receives preganglionic sympathetic neurons from the lateral gray horns of the upper thoracic spinal segments. Within the ganglion, the pre-ganglionic neurons synapse with cell bodies of postganglionic sympathetic neurons, which in turn, get distributed via the superior cervical cardiac nerves to the superficial cardiac plexus, to innervate the heart.

References

Text written by Muhammad A. Javaid, MD, PhD © 2022 IMAIOS.

  • Drake, R.L., Vogl, A.W. and Mitchell, A.W.M. (2009). ‘Chapter 8: Head and Neck’ in Gray’s anatomy for Students. (2nd ed.) Philadelphia PA 19103-2899: Elsevier, pp. 978-981.

  • Kattar, N. and Flowers, T. Anatomy, Head and Neck, Sympathetic Chain. [Updated 2022 Sep 26]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK563206/

  • Standring, S. and Gray, H. (2016). ‘Chapter 57:Heart’ in Gray’s anatomy The anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. (41st ed.) New York: Elsevier, pp. 1021-1023.

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