An unusual course and entrapment of the lingual nerve in the infratemporal fossa

An unusual course and entrapment of the lingual nerve in the infratemporal fossa

The infratemporal fossa is one of the most difficult regions of skull base to access surgically. The presence of the ossified pterygospinous and pterygoalar ligaments makes it more critical and difficult to access, with an occasional entrapment of structures like the mandibular nerve (MN) and its br...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bratislavské lékarské listy Vol. 109; no. 11; p. 525
Main Authors: Nayak, Soubhagya R, Rai, Rajalakshmi, Krishnamurthy, Ashwin, Prabhu, Latha V, Ranade, Anu V, Mansur, Dil Islam, Kumar, Savinaya
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Slovakia 2008
Subjects:
Cranial Fossa, Middle
Humans
Lingual Nerve - abnormalities
Male
Middle Aged
Online Access:Get more information
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The infratemporal fossa is one of the most difficult regions of skull base to access surgically. The presence of the ossified pterygospinous and pterygoalar ligaments makes it more critical and difficult to access, with an occasional entrapment of structures like the mandibular nerve (MN) and its branches. During a routine dissection of an adult male cadaver, an unusual course of the lingual nerve (LN) was found with an entrapment of the nerve between the ossified pterygospinous ligament and the medial pterygoid muscle. Furthermore, all the three branches of the posterior division of the mandibular nerve communicated with each other by two anastomosing branches. The clinical significance of the present variations has been discussed (Fig. 1, Ref. 23).
ISSN:0006-9248