[Anatomical study of the infratemporal fossa]. / Etude anatomique de la fosse infra-temporale.

ABSTRACT

The infratemporal fossa (ITF) is a hidden, subracranial part of the retrofacial region, which is concealed by the mandible. While its definition corresponds to bony relationships, it goes far beyond these. The classical pyramid with a lateral mandibular base and a superomedial apex, the pterygopalatine fossa, actually is a passage for the neurovascular elements it contains. It also is the hidden aspect of the manducatory apparatus, accommodating the pterygoid muscles. Besides these bony limits, the ITF has fasciomuscular boundaries formed posteriorly by the sphenomandibular ligament and the lateral insertion of the styloidian curtain on the angle of the mandible. The anterior limit, under the maxillozygomatic bones, is formed by the pterygomandibular ligament, on which spread the fibers of the buccinator muscle. The inferior limit is only theoretic and corresponds to the lower margin of the mandible. Within these limits, the ITF is connected with the mandible and the lateral manducatory muscles, the parotid gland, the peripharyngeal spaces, the submandibular region. However, it primarily is a passage into the neighboring regions with which it communicates through openings that are either endo- or exocranial, parotid, pharyngeal, nasal, orbital. Thus this fossa is one of the paths of the expansile processes that arise from the neighboring regions and invade it, being guided by the various anatomical openings we have described.