Review of Head and Neck Anatomy

1. Ahmad Amro Baradee
General view on the skull:
The skull is divided intotwo parts: 1) Cranium 2) Facial skeleton
There are 22 bones forming the skull:
8 Cranial bones: Base: 1-sphenoid 2-ethmoid
Vertex: singular: 3-Frontal 4-Occipital
Pair: 5-6-parietal 7-8-temporal
14 Facial bones: mobile: 1-mandible
Immobile: singular: 2-vomer
Pair:3-4-inferior concha
5-6-maxilla 7-8-lacrimal
9-10-zygomatic 11-12-nasal
13-14-palatine
The Ophthalmic nerve:
Frontal Supraorbital(through supraorbital foramen)
Supratrochlear (through supratrochler notch)
Ophthalmic Lacrimal Infratochlear
Nasociliary anterior ethmoid
Posterior ethmoid
The ophthalmic nerve gives collateral branches (
before the three terminal branches ) these are: recurrent meningeal branch
, and anastomosis branches with the third and fourth cranial nerves and
with the carotid plexus.

2. Ahmad Amro Baradee
The external carotid artery:
Superior thyroid
Anteroir lingual
facial
External medial: ascending pharyngeal
Carotid
Artery posterior occipital
Posterior auricular
terminal Maxillary
Superficial temporal Transverse facial
Middle temporal
Zygomatico-orbital
Anterior auricular
2 terminal br.: frontal
parietal
The Maxillary Artery:
Classification "1":
We say the maxillary artery gives 14 collateral branches , and they are
classified among their directions into 4 categories:
A. Three ascending branches heading to the cranium:
1) Tympanic artery
2) Middle meningeal artery
3) Accessory meningeal artery
B. Three lateral branches heading to the muscles:
1) Masseteric artery
2) deep posterior temporal artery
3) deep anterior temporal artery
C. Four descending branches heading to masticating system:
1) inferior dental artery
2) pterygoid artery
3) orobuccal artery (oro=mouth )
4) alveolar artery
D. Four deep branches evolve in the pterygopalatine fossa:
1) Infraorbital artery

3. Ahmad Amro Baradee
2) Vidian artery ( the artery of pterygoid canal )
3) Descending palatine artery
4) Pterygopalatine artery
Classification "2": ( I, myself, prefer this way of classification)
We say the maxillary artery gives 16 branches , and they are classified
into 3 categories:
A. First category: 1) middle meningeal 2) accessory meningeal
3)inferior alveolar 4) deep auricular 5) anterior tympanic
B. Second category: 1) lateral pterygoid 2) medial pterygoid
3)masseter 4) temporal 5) buccinator
C. Third category: 1) posterior superior alveolar 2) Vidian (artery of
pterygoid canal) 3)greater palatine 4)lesser palatine
5)sphenopalatine 6)infraorbital
Temoral bone's fissures:
Squamotympanic f.
Tympanic Squamos
part part
Petrotympanic f. petrosal squamopetrosal f.
prominence
Only the tympanomastoid fissure is left to be pointed out

4. Ahmad Amro Baradee
The paranasal sinuses (air sinuses):
These sinuses:
1) Reduce the weight of the skull
2) Give the ability to make sounds
3) Give the shape of the face
Opens into:The paranasal sinus
Semilunar hiatus , middle meatusMaxillary
Semilunar hiatus , middle meatusFrontal
Semilunar hiatus , middle meatusAnterior and middle ethmoid
Superior meatusPosterior ethmoid
Sphenoethmoidal recess,above the superior meatusSphenoid
Don't open..Mastoid air cells
Remember: the nasolacrimal duct carries tears into the inferior meatus
Note: "meatus" refers to the space under the concha , means: the inferior
meatus is the space under the inferior concha
The venouses sinuses:
Singular:
 Superior sagittal
 Inferior sagittal
 Straight
 Occipital
 intercavernous
Pair:
 superior petrosal
 inferior petrosal
 transverse
 sigmoid
 cavernous

5. Ahmad Amro Baradee
EndsVenouses sinus
Right transverseSuperior sagittal
StraightInferior sagittal
Left transverseStraight
Continues as: the sigmoidTransverse (right or left)
Jugular bulbSigmoid
SigmoidSuperior petrosal
Jugular bulbInferior petrosal
The Sphenoid bone:
 The anterior aspect of the sphenoid bone we find the sphenoidal
crest , and on each side we see the apertute of the sphenoidal sinus,
and lateral to that aperture we see semi air cells which present the
place of articulation between the ethmoid labyrinth and the
sphenoid bone.
 The anterior part of the sphenoidal concha articulates with the
orbital process of the palatine bone.
 The posterior part of the orbital process of the palatine bone gives
an opening to connect with the sphenoidal sinus , whereas the
margins of this opening articulates with the sphenoidal concha.
 The inferior surface of the sphenoidal concha articulates with the
superior surface of the sphenoidal process of the palatine bone.
 We can recognise the following landmarks in an intercranial aspect
of the sphenoid bone: (in this exact order postero-anteriorly):
Dorsum sellae Pituitary gland's fossa Groove for
intercavernous sinus Tuberculum sellae (on each of its sides we find the
middle clinoid process ) Chiasmatic groove Sphenoidal limbus
Sphenoidal jugum ethmoidal process

6. Ahmad Amro Baradee
The pterygopalatine fossa:
It’s a pyramidal fossa
1) It's boundaries:
 Lateral: the internal surface of the ramus of mandible
 Anterior: maxillary tuber
 Medial: the perpendicular plate of palatine bone (at it's top
end we see the sphenopalatine foramen )
 Posterior: the anterior surface of the pterygoid process
 Superior: the inferior surface of the greater wing of the
sphenoid bone (the maxillary surface)
and the apex of this pyramidal fossa is at the inferior end (at the place of
meeting: the pterygoid process with the pyramidal process of palatine
bone together with the tuber of maxillary bone)
2) the foramina that open into the fossa:
 Foramen rotundom
 Foramen ovale
 The aperture of the pterygoid canal
 The aperture of the Palatovaginal canal
 the sphenopalatine foramen (connects the fossa with the
nasal cavity )
 the inferior orbital fissure (connects it with the orbit)
 the pterygomaxillary (pterygopalatine) fissure (connects it
with the infratemporal fossa)
 it connects with the oral cavity through the greater palatine
Canal (the pterygopalatine canal) which has the (Mercedes
sign shape:
the posterior part of the canal is formed by the pterygoid
process , the anterio-medial is formed by the perpendicular
plate of palatine bone (with making a groove on it) , the
anterio-lateral part is formed by the posterior part of the
nasal surface of the maxillary bone (also with making a
groove on it )

7. Ahmad Amro Baradee
Note: the term (pterygopalatine canal) can refer to one of two
canals:
1) the greater palatine canal
2) OR:the palatovaginal canal
3) It's contents:
 The two pterygoid muscles
 The maxillary artery and it's branches
 The maxillary nerve and it's branches
 The mandibular nerve and it's branches
 The pterygoid venouses plexus
 The pterygopalatine ganglion: lies at the bottom of the fossa
4) The branches of the pterygopalatine ganglion:
 Orbital branches(passes through the inferior orbital
fissure)
 nasopalatine nerve
 posterior superior nasal branches
 greater palatine nerve
 lesser palatine nerve
 Bock's nerve ( the pterygopalatine nerve) (passes through
the palatovaginal canal)
o The vidian nerve (the nerve of pterygoid canal) , and two sturdy
branches of the maxillary nerve: end up at the ganglion.
I hope this was helpful 
By: Ahmad Amro Baradee