Pterygopalatine fossa

Bone: Pterygopalatine fossa
Left maxillary sinus opened from the exterior.
File:Pterygopalatine fossa.PNG
Old human skull with entrance to pterygopalatine fossa marked in purple
Latin	fossa pterygopalatina
Gray's	subject #41 166
Dorlands / Elsevier	f_14/12376574

The pterygopalatine fossa is a fossa in the skull.

Boundaries

It has the following boundaries:

• anterior: maxilla (back surface - palatine process of maxilla)
• posterior: sphenoid bone (pterygoid process)
• medial: palatine bone (lateral surface)

Passages

The following passages connect the fossa with other parts of the skull:

Direction	Passage	Connection
Posteriorly	foramen rotundum	middle cranial fossa
Posteriorly	pterygoid canal (Vidian)	middle cranial fossa, foramen lacerum
Posteriorly	palatovaginal canal (pharyngeal)	nasal cavity/nasopharynx
Anteriorly	inferior orbital fissure	orbit
Medially	sphenopalatine foramen	nasal cavity
Laterally	pterygomaxillary fissure	infratemporal fossa
Inferiorly	greater palatine canal (pterygopalatine)	oral cavity, lesser palatine canals

Contents

The pterygopalatine fossa contains

• the pterygopalatine ganglion suspended by nerve roots from the maxillary nerve
• the third part of the maxillary artery
• the nerve of the pterygoid canal

See also

• Pterygopalatine canal

Additional images

• 

  Alveolar branches of superior maxillary nerve and pterygopalatine ganglion.

• 

  The pterygopalatine ganglion and its branches.

External links

• Image at tufts.edu

de:Fossa pterygopalatina