Facial artery
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View Jeremy Jones's current disclosures- Facial arteries
The facial artery is one of the external carotid artery branches and supplies blood to the structures of the face.
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Summary
origin: branch of the external carotid artery a little above the level of the lingual artery, in the carotid triangle of the neck
course: passes deep to the posterior belly of the digastric muscle, the stylohyoid muscle and the submandibular gland; it then continues its tortuous course over the inferior border of the mandible towards the nasolabial fold
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branches
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cervical
glandular branches
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facial
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termination: anterior face as angular artery (terminal branch) at the medial canthus of the eye
Variant anatomy
The facial artery may arise from a common trunk with the lingual artery, the linguofacial trunk.
History and etymology
The facial artery was previously known as the external maxillary artery, e.g. old editions of Gray's anatomy 1. This was in contradistinction to the internal maxillary artery which is now known simply as the maxillary artery.
References
- 1. Anatomy of the Human Body Archives - Collection at Bartleby.com. Collection at Bartlebycom.
- 2. Mcminn. Last's Anatomy. (2003) ISBN: 9780729537520 - Google Books
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cranial vault
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sutures
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arterial supply
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common carotid artery
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arterial supply
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