VH Dissector: Head & Neck: Infratemporal Fossa

I think this section needs a lot of additions. It only shows the trigeminal ganglion, but other things go through the infratemporal fossa: inferior part of temporalis m., lateral & medial pterygoid mm., maxillary a., pterygoid venous plexus, mandibular, inferior alveolar, lingual, buccal, & chorda tympai nn., and the otic ganglion. This list comes from Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy. If any of these can be included, I think it would be beneficial - The problem here is that the model is not great for these small structures. What if we were to make an activity that was more directed towards these. We have a couple of 3D models that might work well.

The Infratemporal Fossa is defined by the following landmarks:

Add the skull

STEP 1

Remove the mandible

STEP 2

Remove the zygomatic bone

STEP 3

The roof of the Infratemporal Fossa is formed by:

Highlight the sphenoid bone

STEP 4

Highlight the temporal bone

STEP 5

The medial wall of the Infratemporal Fossa is formed by:

The pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone

STEP 6

Add the levator velli palatini muscle

STEP 7

Add the tensor velli palatini muscle

STEP 8

The anterior wall of Infratemporal Fossa is formed by:

Highlight the maxilla.

STEP 9

Add the mandible

STEP 10

Rotate the skull to expose the Foramen Ovale

STEP 11

Add the Trigeminal Ganglion which will turn the Foramen Ovale a yellow color

STEP 12

Rotate the skull to see an interior view of the Trigeminal Ganglion

STEP 13

Rotate the skull to view of the Infratemporal Fossa . Unfortunately, the nerves are so small that they are not visable on the 3D cadver.

STEP 14

With the VH Dissector model complete, this is a useful time to correlate your anatomy knowledge to diagnostic images. View the CT stack below of a normal chest CT (with contrast) in coronal view (or CLICK HERE to open in new window).

This CT stack is annotated - scroll through the stack to see them numbered. You can 'continue' or go to page 4 for the answer key.

Additional VH Dissector Resources

Here are some additional bookmarks you can use to preview and review anatomy of the heart:

The Heart (with colorized vessels)

The Heart and Distal Trachea

Credits:

VH Dissector steps modified for Drexel Dissector by Dr. Haviva Goldman from original website activity created by Jeffrey Fahl, MD, Kyle Petersen, PhD, Richard Drake, PhD, Alesha Petitt, MA, Claira Ralston, MS and Kim Price, MA and modified by Jeffrey Fahl, MD, Michael Smith, PhD, Albany Medical College.

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