Right palatine bone. Anterior view. The palatine bone is key to understand the pterygpalatine fossa and the transpterygoid approach. It has 2 plates, 2 crests, and 3 processes. The horizontal plate forms the posterior part of the hard palate and floor of the nasal cavity. The perpendicular plate forms the medial wall of the pterygopalatine fossa and part of the lateral wall of the nasal cavity,and has three processes: orbital, sphenoidal, and pyramidal. The orbital process anteriorlyand the sphenoidal process posteriorly form the sphenopalatine notch. The orbital process forms part of the posterior orbit floor. The sphenoidal process articulates with the root of the pterygoid process and the undersurface of the sphenoidal concha, and forms the anterior aspect of the pharyngeal or palatosphenoidal canal. The pyramidal process forms the lower edge of thepterygopalatine fossa and articulates with the pterygoid notch. The ethmoidal and conchal crests are the attachments to the posterior parts of the middle and inferior turbinates, respectively. (Image courtesy of JC Fernandez-Miranda)