The dural sheath of the optic nerve: descriptive anatomy and surgical applications

The aim of this work was to clarify the descriptive anatomy of the optic dural sheath using microanatomical dissections on cadavers. The orbit is the rostral part of the extradural neural axis compartment; the optic dural sheath forms the central portion of the orbit.In order to describe this specific anatomy, we carefully dissected 5 cadaveric heads (10 orbits) up to the meningeal structure of the orbit and its contents. 1 cadaveric head was reserved for electron microscopy to add to our knowledge of the collagen structure of the optic dural sheath.In this chapter, we describe the anatomy of the interperiostal-dural concept and the anatomy of the orbit. The optic dural sheath contains three portions: the intracranial, the intracanalicular and the intraorbital segment. Each one has specific anatomic relations which result in particular surgical considerations.