Pterygopalatine fossa
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| Bone: Pterygopalatine fossa | ||
|---|---|---|
| Left maxillary sinus opened from the exterior. | ||
| Articulation of left palatine bone with maxilla. | ||
| Latin | fossa pterygopalatina | |
| Gray's | subject #41 166 | |
| Dorlands/Elsevier | f_14/12376574 | |
The pterygopalatine fossa is a fossa in the skull.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
It has the following boundaries:
- anterior: maxilla (back surface - palatine process of maxilla)
- posterior: sphenoid bone (pterygoid process)
- medial: palatine bone (lateral surface)
[edit] Passages
The following passages connect the fossa with other parts of the skull:
| Direction | Passage | Connection |
| Posteriorly | foramen rotundum | middle cranial fossa |
| Posteriorly | pterygoid canal (Vidian) | middle cranial fossa, foramen lacerum |
| Posteriorly | palatovaginal canal (pharyngeal) | nasal cavity/nasopharynx |
| Anteriorly | inferior orbital fissure | orbit |
| Medially | sphenopalatine foramen | nasal cavity |
| Laterally | pterygomaxillary fissure | infratemporal fossa |
| Inferiorly | greater palatine canal (pterygopalatine) | oral cavity, lesser palatine canals |
[edit] Contents
The pterygopalatine fossa contains
- the pterygopalatine ganglion suspended by nerve roots from the maxillary nerve
- the third part of the maxillary artery
- the nerve of the pterygoid canal
[edit] See also
[edit] Additional images
 Alveolar branches of superior maxillary nerve and pterygopalatine ganglion. |
 The pterygopalatine ganglion and its branches. |
[edit] External links
 | This musculoskeletal system article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Pterygopalatine fossa. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
