Infratemporal fossa
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At the time the article was created Prashant Mudgal had no recorded disclosures.
View Prashant Mudgal's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Tariq Walizai had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Tariq Walizai's current disclosuresThe infratemporal fossa is a complex space of the face that lies posterolateral to the maxillary sinus, below the skull base, and between the pharyngeal sidewall and mandibular ramus. It overlaps with the masticator space and prestyloid parapharyngeal space.
Gross anatomy
The infratemporal fossa is the space between the skull base, lateral pharyngeal wall, and the ramus of mandible. The fossa is actually open to the neck posteroinferiorly and in doing so has no true anatomical floor.
The fossa communicates with the temporal fossa via the space deep to the zygomatic arch, with the pterygopalatine fossa via the pterygomaxillary fissure, with the middle cranial fossa via the foraminae ovale and spinosum and with the orbit through the inferior orbital fissure.
The lateral pterygoid forms the foundation whereupon all other contents of the fossa are related. The branches of the mandibular nerve and the attachments of the medial pterygoid lie deep to the lateral pterygoid while the maxillary artery lies superficial to it. Between the two heads of the lateral pterygoid emerges the buccal branch of the mandibular nerve. The lingual and inferior alveolar branches of the mandibular nerve lie below the inferior border of the lateral pterygoid.
Boundaries
medially: lateral pterygoid plate; lateral wall of nasopharynx (tensor veli palatini and levator veli palatini muscles; superior constrictor muscle) 7
laterally: ramus and coronoid process of mandible, zygomatic arch, temporalis muscle 7
anteriorly: posterolateral wall of the maxillary sinus
posteriorly: carotid sheath, deep part of the parotid gland, styloid process and its muscles 7
floor: medial pterygoid muscle
roof: middle cranial fossa (formed by greater wing of sphenoid, with foramen ovale; foramen spinosum as connections to infratemporal fossa) 7
Relations
The infratemporal fossa encompasses the retroantral fat and medial parts of the following spaces 6:
Contents
Muscles
Vessels
maxillary artery and branches
Nerves
mandibular nerve and its branches (including lingual nerve)
References
- 1. Arya S, Rane P, D’Cruz A. Infratemporal fossa, masticator space and parapharyngeal space: Can the radiologist and surgeon speak the same language? Int J Otorhinolaryngol Clin. 2012;4:125–35.
- 2. Mahmood Mafee, Minerva Becker. Imaging of the Head and Neck. (2012) ISBN: 9783131505316
- 3. McMINN. Lasts Anatomy Regional and Applied. CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE. (2003) ISBN:B0084AQDG8. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 4. Doubleday L, Jing B, Wallace S. Computed Tomography of the Infratemporal Fossa. Radiology. 1981;138(3):619-24. doi:10.1148/radiology.138.3.7465838
- 5. Susan Standring. Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. (2008) ISBN: 9780443066849
- 6. Arya S, Rane P, D'Cruz A. Infratemporal Fossa, Masticator Space and Parapharyngeal Space: Can the Radiologist and Surgeon Speak the Same Language? An International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology Clinics. 2012;4(3):125-135. doi:10.5005/jp-journals-10003-1098
- 7. Stephanie Ryan, Michelle McNicholas, Stephen J. Eustace. Anatomy for Diagnostic Imaging. (2011) Page 35. ISBN: 9780702029714 - Google Books
Incoming Links
- Lateral pterygoid muscle
- Parapharyngeal space
- Chorda tympani
- Bezold abscess
- Maxilla
- Pterygoid processes
- Maxillary sinus carcinoma (staging)
- Greater wing of sphenoid
- Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas (staging)
- Foramen tympanicum
- Otic ganglion
- Pterygomaxillary fissure
- Trigeminal nerve
- Jugular paraganglioma
- Pterygopalatine fossa
- Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma
- Masticator space
- Temporal fossa
- Foramen Vesalii
- Temporal bone fracture
- Sphenoid wing meningioma
- Sinonasal nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma
- Adenoid cystic carcinoma of maxillary sinus
- Chondrosarcoma of the maxilla
- Trigeminal schwannoma
- Bilateral plexiform neurofibromas of the trigeminal and facial nerves - NF1
- Infratemporal fossa (Gray's illustration)
- Sinonasal lymphoma
- Infantile haemangioma
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