Nerves accompanying the vertebral artery and their clinical relevance

In elucidating the morphologic basis of cervical spondylosis, the nerves accompanying the vertebral artery were studied under an operative microscope and by means of Karnovsky's histochemical method for acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The results show that the nerves arising from the cervical part of the sympathetic trunk and the cervical nerves anastomose with each other around the artery, and are distributed to the vertebral artery and the cervical spine. The nerves accompanying the vertebral artery show different degrees of AChE activity, and may be compressed or stimulated as a result of disease of Luschka's joint and the other degenerated structures, based on their anatomic relationship.