Endoscopic View of Pterygopalatine and Infratemporal Fossae
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Surgical Correlation
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Pterygopalatine and infratemporal fossae. Removal of the orbital process of the palatine bone uncovers the inferior orbital fissure, where Muller’s muscle, zygomatic nerve and infraorbitalnerve and artery can be identified. The sphenopalatine artery exits the foramen and divides into lateral nasal artery and the posterior septal artery. Note that these arteries are superficial to the sphenoid process of palatine bone. Removal of the vertical plate and pyramidal process ofpalatine bone exposes the greater palatine canal with the descending palatine artery and the greater palatine nerve. Within the infratemporal fossa, the internal maxillary artery gives rise to the anterior deep temporal artery, which supplies the temporalis muscle, and the posteriorsuperior alveolar artery. (Image courtesy of JC Fernandez-Miranda)