Internal auditory meatus 4068986 211080551 2008-05-08T18:27:42Z Uwe Gille 211241 /* External links */ +de {{Infobox Bone | Name = Internal auditory meatus | Latin = meatus acusticus internus | GraySubject = 34 | GrayPage = 143 | Image = Gray138.png | Caption = Left [[temporal bone]]. Inner surface. | Image2 = Gray140.png | Caption2 = Diagrammatic view of the fundus of the right internal acoustic meatus. | System = | MeshName = | MeshNumber = | DorlandsPre = m_06 | DorlandsSuf = 12518154 | }} The '''internal acoustic meatus''' (also '''internal auditory meatus''') is a canal in the [[temporal bone]] of the skull that carries nerves from inside the cranium towards the middle and inner ear compartments. ==Structure== The opening to the internal acoustic meatus is located inside the cranial cavity, near the center of the posterior surface of the [[temporal bone]]. The size varies considerably; its margins are smooth and rounded. The canal is short (about 1 cm) and runs laterally into the bone. At its end are the openings for three different canals, one of which is the [[facial canal]]. Unlike the [[external acoustic meatus]], the internal acoustic meatus does not transmit sound waves. It instead transmits the [[facial nerve|facial]] and [[vestibulocochlear nerve]]s and the [[labyrinthine artery]] (an internal auditory branch of the [[basilar artery]]). The facial nerve travels through the [[facial canal]], eventually exiting the skull at the [[stylomastoid foramen]]. The opening of the meatus is called the '''porus acusticus internus''', or its English translation, the '''internal acoustic opening'''. ==Additional images== <gallery> Image:Gray144.png|Temporal bone at birth. Inner aspect. Image:Gray193.png|Base of the skull. Upper surface. Image:Gray908.png|Horizontal section through left ear; upper half of section. Image:Gray923.png|The cochlea and vestibule, viewed from above. </gallery> ==See also== * [[External auditory meatus]] ==References== * {{Dorlands|p_30|12660414}} ==External links== * {{SUNYAnatomyFigs|30|01|08}} * {{NormanAnatomy|cranialnerves}} ({{NormanAnatomyFig|VII}}) * [http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Medizin/Anatomie/makro1/t112ii.htm Diagram of Porus acusticus internus] * [http://www.bcm.edu/oto/studs/fn.html Diagram of Porus acusticus internus] {{Gray's}} {{Skull}} {{Foramina of skull}} [[Category:Foramina of the skull]] {{musculoskeletal-stub}} [[de:Innerer Gehörgang]]