Facial artery
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
| Artery: Facial artery | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The arteries of the face and scalp. (External maxillary visible at bottom center.) | |
 | |
| Outline of side of face, showing chief surface markings. (Label for "Ext. Max. Art." at bottom left.) | |
| Latin | arteria maxillaris externa |
| Gray's | subject #144 553 |
| Source | external carotid artery |
| Vein | anterior facial vein, posterior facial vein |
| Dorlands / Elsevier | a_61/12154265 |
| Cardiology Network |
 Discuss Facial artery further in the WikiDoc Cardiology Network |
| Adult Congenital |
|---|
| Biomarkers |
| Cardiac Rehabilitation |
| Congestive Heart Failure |
| CT Angiography |
| Echocardiography |
| Electrophysiology |
| Cardiology General |
| Genetics |
| Health Economics |
| Hypertension |
| Interventional Cardiology |
| MRI |
| Nuclear Cardiology |
| Peripheral Arterial Disease |
| Prevention |
| Public Policy |
| Pulmonary Embolism |
| Stable Angina |
| Valvular Heart Disease |
| Vascular Medicine |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Phone:617-525-6884
Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [2] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.
The facial artery (external maxillary artery in older texts) is a branch of the external carotid artery that supplies structures of the face.
Course
The facial artery arises in the carotid triangle from the external carotid artery a little above the lingual artery and, sheltered by the ramus of the mandible, passes obliquely up beneath the digastric and stylohyoid muscles, over which it arches to enter a groove on the posterior surface of the submandibular gland.
It then curves upward over the body of the mandible at the antero-inferior angle of the masseter; passes forward and upward across the cheek to the angle of the mouth, then ascends along the side of the nose, and ends at the medial commissure of the eye, under the name of the angular artery.
This vessel, both in the neck and on the face, is remarkably tortuous: in the former situation, to accommodate itself to the movements of the pharynx in deglutition; and in the latter, to the movements of the mandible, lips, and cheeks.
Relations
In the neck, its origin is superficial, being covered by the integument, platysma, and fascia; it then passes beneath the digastric and stylohyoid muscles and part of the submandibular gland, but superficial to the hypoglossal nerve.
It lies upon the middle pharyngeal constrictor and the superior pharyngeal constrictor, the latter of which separates it, at the summit of its arch, from the lower and back part of the tonsil.
On the face, where it passes over the body of the mandible, it is comparatively superficial, lying immediately beneath the dilators of the mouth. In its course over the face, it is covered by the integument, the fat of the cheek, and, near the angle of the mouth, by the platysma, risorius, and zygomaticus major. It rests on the buccinator and levator anguli oris, and passes either over or under the infraorbital head of the levator labii superioris.
The anterior facial vein lies lateral/posterior to the artery, and takes a more direct course across the face, where it is separated from the artery by a considerable interval. In the neck it lies superficial to the artery.
The branches of the facial nerve cross the artery from behind forward.
Branches
The branches of the facial artery are:
- facial
- Inferior labial artery
- Superior labial artery
- Lateral nasal branch to nasalis muscle
- Angular artery - the terminal branch
Th lateral pterygoid muscle divides the facial artery into 3 parts.
Muscles
Muscles supplied by the facial artery include:
- buccinator
- levator anguli oris
- levator labii superioris
- levator labii superioris alaeque nasi
- levator veli palatini
- masseter
- mentalis
- mylohyoid
- nasalis
- palatoglossus
- palatopharyngeus
- platysma
- procerus
- risorius
- styloglossus
- transverse portion of the nasalis
Additional images
 Mandible. Outer surface. Side view. |
 Diagram showing the origins of the main branches of the carotid arteries. |
 Superficial dissection of the right side of the neck, showing the carotid and subclavian arteries. |
 Bloodvessels of the eyelids, front view. |
 Side of neck, showing chief surface markings. |
| WikiDoc Cardiology News |
 Read more about Facial artery in the WikiDoc Cardiology News |
| All News Articles |
|---|
| Acute Coronary Syndromes |
| Biomarkers |
| Cardiovascular Imaging |
| CT Surgery |
| Diabetes |
| Electrophysiology |
| General Cardiology |
| Guidelines |
| Health Policy |
| Heart Failure |
| Hypertension |
| Interventional |
| Peripheral Arterial Disease |
| Prevention |
| Valvular Heart Disease |
See also
External links
- ii/f/FACIAL_ARTERY article at GE's Medcyclopaedia
- Facial+artery at eMedicine Dictionary
- SUNY Labs 23:09-0101 - "The Facial Artery and Vein"
- SUNY Figs 25:04-04 - "Branches of the external carotid artery."
- SUNY Labs 31:09-0106 - "Common Carotid Artery and Branches of the External Carotid Artery"
- Anatomy at MUN head/cbv
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.
| ||||
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
