Accessory branch of middle meningeal artery
Ramus accessorius arteriae meningeae mediae
A small artery in the infratemporal fossa, from the middle meningeal or maxillary artery, that enters the skull through the foramen ovale.
At a glance
- English
- Accessory branch of middle meningeal artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Ramus accessorius arteriae meningeae mediae
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the accessory branch of middle meningeal artery
The accessory branch of the middle meningeal artery, usually called the accessory meningeal artery, is a small vessel of the infratemporal fossa. It arises either from the middle meningeal artery soon after that artery leaves the maxillary artery, or directly from the first part of the maxillary artery itself. Which origin it takes varies from person to person.
From its origin it runs upwards, close to the mandibular nerve and near the lateral and medial pterygoid muscles and tensor veli palatini. Most of its blood goes to these structures outside the skull: the pterygoid muscles, tensor veli palatini, the region of the auditory tube and the nearby soft tissue. A smaller part of the artery continues up through the foramen ovale, alongside the mandibular nerve, into the middle cranial fossa.
Inside the skull it supplies the dura mater of the floor of the middle cranial fossa and the trigeminal ganglion, which lies in a dural pocket at the apex of the petrous temporal bone. Here it shares the work with branches of the middle meningeal artery and with small branches from the internal carotid artery, and its territory connects with theirs.
Because it enters the skull with the mandibular nerve, the artery is met in procedures that approach the trigeminal ganglion through the foramen ovale, such as treatments for trigeminal neuralgia. It is also one of the routes by which external and internal carotid territories communicate, which matters in the planning of embolisation for tumours of the skull base.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- The middle meningeal artery near its start, or the first part of the maxillary artery.
- Ends in
- Ends in the infratemporal fossa muscles and, through the foramen ovale, in the dura of the middle cranial fossa and the trigeminal ganglion.
- Supplies
- Supplies the pterygoid muscles, tensor veli palatini and the auditory tube region outside the skull, and the trigeminal ganglion and nearby dura inside it.
Anthromica
See the accessory branch of middle meningeal artery where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
