Sphenopalatine artery
| Artery: Sphenopalatine artery | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Plan of branches of internal maxillary artery. (Sphenopalatine visible in upper right.) | |
| Latin | arteria sphenopalatina |
| Gray's | subject #144 562 |
| Supplies | frontal, maxillary, ethmoidal, and sphenoidal sinuses |
| Source | maxillary artery |
| Branches | posterior lateral nasal branches posterior septal branches |
| Dorlands / Elsevier |
a_61/12155995 |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
The sphenopalatine artery (nasopalatine artery) is an artery of the head.
Course
It passes through the sphenopalatine foramen into the cavity of the nose, at the back part of the superior meatus.
Here it gives off its posterior lateral nasal branches which spread forward over the conchæ and meatuses, anastomose with the ethmoidal arteries and the nasal branches of the descending palatine, and assist in supplying the frontal, maxillary, ethmoidal, and sphenoidal sinuses.
Crossing the under surface of the sphenoid the sphenopalatine artery ends on the nasal septum as the posterior septal branches; these anastomose with the ethmoidal arteries and the septal branch of the superior labial; one branch descends in a groove on the vomer to the incisive canal and anastomoses with the descending palatine artery.
Clinical significance
This artery is often ligated surgically to control severe epistaxis.
See also
External links
- Norman/Georgetown lesson4 (infratempfossaart)
- Norman/Georgetown lesson9 (nasalseptumart)
- Sphenopalatine+artery at eMedicine Dictionary
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 As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated.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.
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