CHAPTER 7
TEMPORAL AND INFRATEMPORAL FOSSAE
Overview and Topographic Anatomy
Borders of the Temporal Fossa
Contents of the Temporal Fossa
Borders of the Infratemporal Fossa
Contents of the Infratemporal Fossa
Questions
Overview and Topographic Anatomy
GENERAL INFORMATION
TEMPORAL FOSSA
Related to the temple of the head
Communicates with the infratemporal fossa beneath the zygomatic arch
INFRATEMPORAL FOSSA
An irregularly shaped fossa inferior and medial to the zygomatic arch
Communicates with the pterygopalatine fossa at the pterygomaxillary fissure
Borders of the Temporal Fossa
OVERVIEW
Border |
Structures |
Superior |
Superior temporal line of the skull |
Inferior |
Zygomatic arch |
Anterior |
Frontal process of the zygoma
Zygomatic process of the frontal bone |
Posterior |
Superior temporal line of the skull |
Floor |
Frontal, greater wing of the sphenoid
Parietal and squamous part of the temporal bones (including the pterion) |
Contents of the Temporal Fossa
VASCULAR SUPPLY
NERVE SUPPLY
Borders of the Infratemporal Fossa
OVERVIEW
Border |
Structures |
Lateral |
Ramus of the mandible and coronoid process of the mandible |
Medial |
Lateral pterygoid plate of the sphenoid, the superior constrictor m., and the pyramidal process of the palatine bone |
Superior |
Infratemporal surface of the greater wing of the sphenoid with the foramen ovale and foramen spinosum |
Anterior |
Posterior portion of the maxilla |
Posterior |
Styloid process and condylar process of the mandible |
Inferior |
No anatomic floor as the boundary of the fossa ends where the medial pterygoid attaches to the mandible |
CONTENTS OF THE INFRATEMPORAL FOSSA
MUSCLES
• Temporalis
• Lateral pterygoid
• Medial pterygoid
ARTERIES
• Maxillary and its branches
VEINS
• Pterygoid plexus of veins and tributaries
NERVES
• Mandibular division of the trigeminal and branches
• Posterior superior alveolar
• Chorda tympani branch of the facial
• Otic ganglion
• Lesser petrosal
Contents of the Infratemporal Fossa
VASCULAR SUPPLY
NERVOUS STRUCTURES
