Maxillary-to-petrous internal carotid artery bypass: an anatomical feasibility study

The possibility for maxillary artery (MA) to petrous internal carotid artery (ICA) bypass was investigated. Five adult cadavers were dissected bilaterally. After zygomatic arch osteotomy, the coronoid process was sectioned at its base. An extensive infratemporal craniotomy was performed at the level of foramina ovale, rotundum and spinosum. The petrous portion of the ICA was exposed by drilling away the floor of the middle fossa, posterior to the foramen ovale and medial to the foramen spinosum. The MA was identified medial to the infratemporal crest and was followed in the pterygopalatine fossa, then transected at the origin of the infraorbital artery. The MA graft was brought posteromedially to reach the petrous ICA. The mean caliber of the MA before the origin of the infraorbital artery was 2.54+/-0.31 mm, 2.76+/-0.14 mm at the site of anastomosis, and 3.46+/-0.32 mm after giving off the middle meningeal artery. The average length of the MA between the middle meningeal artery and the infraorbital artery was 43.4+/-2.35 mm, and up to the site of anastomosis was 37.64+/-1.68 mm. We conclude that the length and diameter of the MA are sufficient for a tension-free anastomosis between MA and petrous ICA, and such a procedure could be used in the treatment of patients with tumors of the infratemporal fossa invading the high cervical ICA.