A 54-year-old man is admitted to the hospital due to severe headaches. A CT examination reveals an internal carotid artery aneurysm inside the cavernous sinus. Which of the following nerves would be typically affected first?

The abducens nerve would be affected first due to aneurysmal dilation of the internal carotid artery (ICA) because the nerve runs in closest proximity to the artery within the cavernous sinus. The other nerves running in the wall of the cavernous sinus are the oculomotor nerve, trochlear nerve, and both the maxillary and ophthalmic branches of the trigeminal nerve. Each of these nerves, however, courses along, or within, the lateral walls of the cavernous sinus and may not be immediately affected by an aneurysm of the ICA.