History of the nervus intermedius of Wrisberg

Although probably identified by Eustachius (1563), the first clearly documented description of the nervus intermedius was completed by Heinrich August Wrisberg at the University of Göttingen in 1777. In 1881, Giuseppe Sapolini defined the nervus intermedius, according to its specific features, as the 13th cranial nerve. In 1908, Ramsay Hunt discovered the correlation between herpes zoster, nervus intermedius and geniculate neuralgia. The combination of venerable accuracy with modern knowledge in electrophysiology, clinical and microsurgical aspects give us an outstanding model of the manner of progress and of the interdisciplinary importance of applied anatomy in medicine. Despite the long history of anatomical description of this small nerve, not all features are well known and the common definition as a purely sensory and parasympathetic root of the facial nerve may not cover all aspects of the nervus intermedius.