Characterization of the pterygomeningeal artery based on branching pattern and muscular distribution

The pterygomeningeal (accessory meningeal) artery arises from the middle meningeal or maxillary artery. Although there is the potential that this artery may be wounded by the surgery for the temporomandibular joint disorder, the current state of anatomical knowledge is insufficient. This study investigated the appearance and the branching pattern of this artery as a means to its characterization.

The pterygomeningeal artery was dissected in 14 cadavers and its branches and their distributions to the muscles inside the mandible were examined.

The maxillary artery passed lateral to the lateral pterygoid muscle. The pterygomeningeal artery arose from the middle meningeal or maxillary artery. It ascended anteriorly and coursed medial or lateral to the mandibular nerve. It passed above the pterygospinous ligament and then descended. The ascending trunk gave some lateral branches to the lateral pterygoid muscle. The branches sometimes passed lateral to the mandibular nerve even if the pterygomeningeal artery coursed medial. The descending trunk was divided into middle and medial branches, which supplied the medial pterygoid muscle and the tensor veli palatini, respectively. The pterygomeningeal artery was sometimes equally bifurcate near the origin, and the counterparts passed lateral and medial to the mandibular nerve. The distributions of the medial and lateral counterparts were equivalent to those of the descending trunk and the lateral branches, respectively.

The pterygomeningeal artery contains three groups of muscular branches, which sometimes appear in a bifurcate form. Their positions relative to the mandibular nerve and the pterygospinous ligament characterize the artery; this information may help to avoid iatrogenic injury.