Owing to the intimate relationship between the ninth, tenth and eleventh cranial nerves as they emerge through the jugular foramen, trauma or disease in this region may affect one or all of these nerves and produce symptoms somewhat remote from their point of origin. These three nerves, the glossopharyngeal, the vagus and the spinal accessory, pass through the anterior portion of the jugular foramen, the anterior border of which is formed by the petrous pyramid at this point. The glossopharyngeal nerve lies closest to the petrous tip and is here separated from the vagus and the spinal accessory nerve by a strip of dura mater.
Injury to these nerves may come from fracture of the base of the skull, from syphilitic meningitis, from tumor of the brain in the region of the jugular foramen or from one of various other pathologic conditions. Disturbance of all three nerves may produce the