Blood supply to the head and neck

Question 1

What gives off the inferior thyroid and ascending cervical arteries?

Answer 1

The thyrocervical trunk off of the subclavian.

Question 2

What level does the common carotid bifurcate at?

Answer 2

C4.

Question 3

What does the lingual artery supply?

Answer 3

The structures of the tongue, soft palate, floor of the mouth, sublingual gland, and the epiglottis.

Question 4

What is the course of the facial artery?

Answer 4

It passes medial to the angle of the mandible, then ascends and terminates at the medial campus of the orbit (giving off branches along the way).

Question 5

What significance does the facial artery’s relation to the mandible have?

Answer 5

A fracture to the angle of the mandible can damage the facial artery.

Question 6

What is the course of the occipital artery?

Answer 6

Exits medial to the mastoid process and then ascends the posterior skull.

Question 7

What is the most inferior of the branches of the external carotid?

Answer 7

The superior thyroid.

Question 8

What are the terminal branches of the external carotid?

Answer 8

The superficial temporal and the maxillary arteries.

Question 9

What is the course of the maxillary artery?

Answer 9

It travels deep into the face in the infratemporal fossa and gives off several important branches.

Question 10

What it the maxillary artery’s relation to the mandible?

Answer 10

It goes deep to the condyle of the mandible. Fractures here can injure the maxillary artery.

Question 11

What are the branches of the external carotid?

Answer 11

Superior thyroid, ascending pharyngeal, lingual, facial, occipital, posterior auricular, maxillary, superficial temporal.

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Question 12

What are the branches of the mandibular part of the maxillary artery?

Answer 12

Deep auricular, anterior tympanic, middle meningeal, and inferior alveolar.

Question 13

What does the deep auricular artery supply?

Answer 13

The external ear and the TMJ.

Question 14

What does the anterior tympanic artery supply?

Answer 14

The tympanic membrane.

Question 15

What does the inferior alveolar artery supply?

Answer 15

The mandible, the lower teeth, the mylohoid muscle (just like the nerve also supplies the mylohyoid muscle), and the mental branch supplies the chin.

Question 16

What does the middle meningeal artery supply?

Answer 16

Enters the cranium through the foramen spinosum and supplies the dura mater.

Question 17

What is the course of the inferior alveolar artery?

Answer 17

The inferior alveolar artery (along with the inferior alveolar nerve) enters the mandibular foramen and travels through the inferior alveolar canal, then exits through the mental foramen.

Question 18

What does the pterygoid portion of the maxillary artery give off?

Answer 18

Branches to the muscles of mastication and the buccal artery.

Question 19

What does the pterygopalatine portion of the maxillary artery give off?

Answer 19

Sphenopalatine, infra orbital, and superior alveolar arteries.

Question 20

What is the course of the internal carotid artery?

Answer 20

It travels through the carotid canal in the petrous portion of the sphenoid bone.

Question 21

What are the three portions of the internal carotid artery?

Answer 21

The petrous, the cavernous, and the cerebral.

Question 22

What is the terminal part of the internal carotid?

Answer 22

The cerebral, which joins the circle of willis along with the basilar artery (merging of left and right vertebral arteries).

Question 23

What are the branches of the internal carotid that supply the eye?

Answer 23

The ophthalmic artery, which in turn gives off the supra orbital and ethmoidal arteries.

Question 24

What arteries that supply the scalp are from the internal carotid?

Answer 24

The supra-orbital and supra-trochlear arteries (anterior). The rest of the scalp and face is by the external carotid.

Question 25

What is the significance of the dural sinuses?

Answer 25

There are many of them, and some are very large veins.

Question 26

What is the significance of the transverse sinus?

Answer 26

It lies behind the asterion (meeting of the temporal, occipital, and parietal bones). A fracture at the asterion could damage the transverse sinus and cause major bleeding.

Question 27

What are the dural sinuses of note?

Answer 27

The superior and inferior sagittal sinuses, the transverse sinus, the sigmoid sinus, and the cavernous sinus.

Question 28

What is the course of the sigmoid sinus?

Answer 28

It exits through the jugular foramen and becomes the internal jugular vein.

Question 29

Where are the cavernous sinuses located?

Answer 29

On wither side of the sella turcica (sphenoid bone).

Question 30

What structures pass in or by the cavernous sinuses?

Answer 30

The cavernous portion of the internal carotid, occulomotor nerve, trochlear nerve, abducens nerve, ophthalmic nerve (V1) and maxillary (V2).

Question 31

What is the venous drainage of the deep face?

Answer 31

The pterygoid sinus.

Question 32

What does the pterygoid plexus drain into?

Answer 32

Coalesces to form the maxillary vein which then exits the infratemporal fossa travelling with the maxillary artery.

Question 33

What are the deeper venous plexuses that communicate with the face?

Answer 33

The pterygoid plexus via the deep facial vein and the cavernous sinus via the ophthalmic veins.

Question 34

What forms the retromandibular vein?

Answer 34

The superficial temporal and maxillary veins (from the pterygoid plexus).

Question 35

What does the retromandibular vein drain into?

Answer 35

The internal and external carotid veins.

Question 36

What does the facial vein join with?

Answer 36

The facial vein joins with the ophthalmic veins which drain into the cavernous sinus.