Fig. 3

The course of the vagal nerves and recurrent laryngeal nerves. a Coronal MIP reformat showing the expected course of the vagal nerves bilaterally within the carotid sheath and proximal parts of the recurrent laryngeal nerves (dotted lines). The right recurrent laryngeal nerve branches just caudally to the right subclavian artery (short arrow) and crosses the right subclavian artery towards the tracheo-oesophageal groove. The left recurrent laryngeal nerve (long arrow) runs below the aortic arch. b Contrast enhanced CT of the skull base showing the jugular foramen with the jugular vein (long arrow), the pars nervosa (short arrow) and the internal carotid artery (*). c The carotid sheath with the internal carotid artery (A), the jugular vein (V) and the expected position of vagal nerve (*). d At the level of the subclavian arteries (S) the vagal nerves (long arrows) lie anteriorly in the upper mediastinum. At this level, the recurrent laryngeal nerves run more posteriorly in the tracheo-oesophageal groove (short arrows). e The left recurrent laryngeal nerve crosses the aortic arch from anterior to posterior (curved arrow) at the level of the aorto-pulmonary window (AP)