ophthalmic vein

ophthalmic vein One of the paired veins that drain the orbital cavity that contains the eye. The superior ophthalmic vein arises at the inner angle of the orbit and follows the course of the ophthalmic artery into the cavernous sinus, a large channel of venous blood. The inferior ophthalmic vein arises from a venous network at the forepart of orbit and divides into two branches, one of which also ends in the cavernous sinus. See also cavernous sinus; vein.