Quadrigeminal cistern

Last revised by Kajanan Nithiyananthan on 23 Feb 2025

The quadrigeminal cistern (also known as superior cistern or cistern of the great cerebral vein) is one of the CSF-filled subarachnoid cisterns.

Boundaries

The boundaries of the quadrigeminal cistern are as follows 2:

  • anterior: quadrigeminal plate of the midbrain (or colliculi)

  • posterior: the meeting point of tentorium cerebelli and falx cerebri

  • superior: splenium of the corpus callosum

  • inferior: vermis of cerebellum

The quadrigeminal cistern is continuous with the following cisterns 3:

  • ambient cistern

  • retrothalamic cistern (around the pulvinar of the thalamus)

  • superior cerebellar cistern (above the vermis of the cerebellum)

The quadrigeminal cistern extends from the third ventricle to the great cerebral vein.

Contents

It contains several vessels and nerves:

Related pathology

Cases and figures

  • Case 1 axial: labeled 49
  • Case 1 sagittal: labeled 59
  • Case 1 coronal: labeled 74
:

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