infratemporal fossa

The infratemporal fossa is an irregularly shaped cavity, situated below and medial to the zygomatic arch. Boundaries defined by: anteriorly, by the infratemporal surface of the maxilla and the ridge which descends from its zygomatic process posteriorly, by the articular tubercle of the temporal and the spinal angularis of the sphenoid superiorly, by the greater wing of the sphenoid below the infratemporal crest, and by the under surface of the temporal squama, containing the foramen ovale, which transmits the mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve, and the foramen spinosum, which transmits the middle meningeal artery inferiorly, by the medial pterygoid muscle attaching to the mandible medially, by the lateral pterygoid plate laterally, by the ramus of mandible, which contains the mandibular foramen, leading to the mandibular canal through which the inferior alveolar nerve passes. This also contains the lingula, a triangular piece of bone that overlies the mandibular foramen antero-medially. Finally, the mylohyoid groove descends obliquely transmitting the mylohyoid nerve the only motor branch of the anterior division of the trigeminal nerve.