maxillary artery

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{{Information |description = |Other fields 1 = {{Information field|Name={{Ucfirst:{{Plate}}}}|Value=510}} |date = {{Other date|before|1858}} |source = *{{cite book |year=1918 |author=[[:en:Henry Gray|Henry Gray]] |title=Anatomy of the Human Body }} (See "{{Section header|Book}}" section below) *{{Gray"s Anatomy/link|510}} |author = {{Creator:Henry Vandyke Carter}} |other_versions = |permission = }} == {{Section header|Book}} == {{Gray"s Anatomy}} =={{int:license-header}}== {{PD-scan|PD-old-100-1923}} [[Category:Gray"s Anatomy plates|0510]] [[Category:Arteria carotis externa]] [[Category:Medial pterygoid muscles]] [[Category:Lateral pteryg

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Plan of

branches of maxillary artery

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Superficial

dissection of the right side of the neck, showing the carotid and subclavian arteries.

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The (internal) maxillary artery is the larger of the two terminal branches of the external carotid artery.

Origin and course

The maxillary artery's origin is behind the neck of the mandible, at first, it is embedded in the substance of the parotid gland. From there it passes anterior between the ramus of the mandible and the sphenomandibular ligament, and then runs, either superficial or deep to the lateral pterygoid muscle, to the pterygopalatine fossa. It supplies the deep structures of the face.

The maxillary artery is divided into three portions by its relation to the lateral pterygoid muscle:

first (mandibular) part: posterior to lateral pterygoid muscle (five branches)
second (pterygoid or muscular) part: within lateral pterygoid muscle (five branches)
third (pterygopalatine) part: anterior to lateral pterygoid muscle (six branches including terminal branch)