Palatine nerves
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nerve: Palatine nerves | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| The sphenopalatine ganglion and its branches. (Anterior palatine at bottom right, middle palatine at bottom center, and posterior palatine at bottom right.) | ||
| Latin | nervi palatini | |
| Gray's | subject #200 893 | |
| Dorlands/Elsevier | n_05/12566391 | |
The palatine nerves (descending branches) are distributed to the roof of the mouth, soft palate, tonsil, and lining membrane of the nasal cavity.
Most of their fibers are derived from the sphenopalatine branches of the maxillary nerve.
In older texts, they are usually categorized as three in number: anterior, middle, and posterior. (In newer texts, and in Terminologia anatomica, they are broken down into "greater palatine nerve" and "lesser palatine nerve".)
Contents |
[edit] Anterior
The anterior palatine nerve (n. palatinus anterior) descends through the pterygopalatine canal, emerges upon the hard palate through the greater palatine foramen, and passes forward in a groove in the hard palate, nearly as far as the incisor teeth.
It supplies the gums, the mucous membrane and glands of the hard palate, and communicates in front with the terminal filaments of the nasopalatine nerve.
While in the pterygopalatine canal, it gives off posterior inferior nasal branches, which enter the nasal cavity through openings in the palatine bone, and ramify over the inferior nasal concha and middle and inferior meatuses; at its exit from the canal, a palatine branch is distributed to both surfaces of the soft palate.
[edit] Middle
The middle palatine nerve (n. palatinus medius) emerges through one of the minor palatine canals and distributes branches to the uvula, tonsil, and soft palate.
It is occasionally wanting.
[edit] Posterior
The posterior palatine nerve (n. palatinus posterior) descends through the pterygopalatine canal, and emerges by a separate opening behind the greater palatine foramen; it supplies the soft palate, tonsil, and uvula.
The middle and posterior palatine join with the tonsillar branches of the glossopharyngeal to form a plexus (circulus tonsillaris) around the tonsil.
[edit] External links
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.
 |
This neuroscience article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
