Information about Pterygopalatine Fossa

Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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Fossa is the Latin word for ditch or trench. More specifically, it can refer to one of the following:

Anatomy

In anatomical terminology, fossa has come to mean a depression or hollow, typically in a bone.
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skull is a bony structure found in many animals which serves as the general framework for the head. The skull supports the structures of the face and protects the head against injury.

The skull can be subdivided into two parts: the cranium and the mandible.
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The maxilla (plural: maxillae) is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper jaw. This is similar to the mandible, which is also a fusion of two halves at the mental symphysis.
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The palatine process of the maxilla (palatal process), thick and strong, is horizontal and projects medialward from the nasal surface of the bone.

It forms a considerable part of the floor of the nose and the roof of the mouth and is much thicker in front than behind.
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The sphenoid bone (from Greek sphenoeides, "wedgelike") is a bone situated at the base of the skull in front of the temporals and basilar part of the occipital bone.

The sphenoid bone somewhat resembles a butterfly or bat with its wings extended.
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The pterygoid processes of the sphenoid, one on either side, descend perpendicularly from the regions where the body and great wings unite.

Each process consists of a Medial pterygoid plate and a Lateral pterygoid plate, the upper parts of which are fused anteriorly; a
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The palatine bone is a bone in the palate (Latin palatum; unrelated to palatium 'palace', from which other senses of palatine derive).

Anatomy

It is situated at the back part of the nasal cavity between the maxilla and the pterygoid process of the
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The foramen rotundum is a circular hole in the sphenoid bone that connects the middle cranial fossa and the pterygopalatine fossa.

Structure

The foramen rotundum is one of the several circular apertures (the foramina) located in the base of the skull, in the anterior and
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The middle fossa, deeper than the anterior cranial fossa, is narrow in the middle, and wide at the sides of the skull.

It is bounded in front by the posterior margins of the small wings of the sphenoid, the anterior clinoid processes, and the ridge forming the anterior
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The pterygoid canal (also vidian canal) is a passage in the skull leading from just anterior to the foramen lacerum in the middle cranial fossa to the pterygopalatine fossa.
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The middle fossa, deeper than the anterior cranial fossa, is narrow in the middle, and wide at the sides of the skull.

It is bounded in front by the posterior margins of the small wings of the sphenoid, the anterior clinoid processes, and the ridge forming the anterior
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The foramen lacerum (Latin for lacerated piercing) is a triangular hole in the base of the skull located at the base of the medial pterygoid plate.

Transit through the foramen lacerum

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The palatovaginal canal (also pharyngeal canal) is a canal between the sphenoid bone and the palatine bone that connects the nasal cavity with the pterygopalatine fossa.
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The nasal cavity (or nasal fossa) is a large air-filled space above and behind the nose in the middle of the face.

Function

The nasal cavity conditions the air to be received by the areas of the respiratory tract.
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The nasopharynx (nasal part of the pharynx) lies behind the nose and above the level of the soft palate: it differs from the oral and laryngeal parts of the pharynx in that its cavity always remains patent (open).
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The lateral wall and the floor of the orbit are separated posteriorly by the inferior orbital fissure which transmits the maxillary nerve and its zygomatic branch, the infraorbital vessels, and the ascending branches from the sphenopalatine ganglion.
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In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated.

It can also mean the skin which surrounds the eye of a bird.

In the adult human, the volume of the orbit is 30 ml, of which the eye occupies 6.5 ml.
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The sphenopalatine foramen is a foramen in the skull that connects the nasal cavity with the pterygopalatine fossa.

Structure

The processes of the superior border of the palatine bone are separated by the sphenopalatine notch
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The nasal cavity (or nasal fossa) is a large air-filled space above and behind the nose in the middle of the face.

Function

The nasal cavity conditions the air to be received by the areas of the respiratory tract.
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The pterygomaxillary fissure is vertical, and descends at right angles from the medial end of the inferior orbital fissure; it is a triangular interval, formed by the divergence of the maxilla from the pterygoid process of the sphenoid.
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The infratemporal fossa is an irregularly shaped cavity, situated below and medial to the zygomatic arch.

Boundaries

It is bounded by the following structures:

• anteriorly

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The greater palatine canal (or pterygopalatine canal) is a passage in the skull that transmits the greater palatine artery, vein, and nerve between the pterygopalatine fossa and the oral cavity.
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The human mouth (or oral cavity) is covered by an upper and lower lip.

The mouth starts digestion by physically chewing the food and breaking it down with saliva.

The average male mouth holds a volume of about 100mL.
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The lesser palatine canals (also accessory palatine canals) are passages in the palatine bone that carry the lesser and middle palatine nerves and vessels.

Structure

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The pterygopalatine ganglion (or sphenopalatine ganglion) is a parasympathetic ganglion found in the pterygopalatine fossa.

Structure

The pterygopalatine ganglion (of Meckel), the largest of the parasympathetic ganglia associated with the branches of the trigeminal
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The maxillary nerve (superior maxillary nerve), or second division of the trigeminal, is a sensory nerve.

It is intermediate, both in position and size, between the ophthalmic nerve and the mandibular nerve.
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The maxillary artery (or internal maxillary artery in older texts) is an artery that supplies deep structures of the face.

Structure

The maxillary artery, the larger of the two terminal branches of the external carotid artery, arises behind the neck of the
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The nerve of the pterygoid canal (Vidian nerve), formed by the junction of the great petrosal nerve and the deep petrosal nerve in the cartilaginous substance which fills the foramen lacerum, passes forward, through the pterygoid canal, with the corresponding artery (artery
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