Descending palatine artery

Descending palatine artery
Plan of branches of internal maxillary artery. ("Desc. pal." visible in upper right.)
Plan of branches of internal maxillary artery. (Artery not labeled, but region is visible.)
Details
Latin	arteria palatina descendens
Source	maxillary artery (3rd part)
Branches	greater palatine artery, lesser palatine arteries
Supplies	hard palate, soft palate
Identifiers
Dorlands /Elsevier	a_61/12155339
TA
TH	{{#property:P1694}}
TE	{{#property:P1693}}
FMA	{{#property:P1402}}
Anatomical terminology [[[d:|edit on Wikidata]]]

The descending palatine artery is an artery of the head.

Course

It descends through the greater palatine canal with the greater and lesser palatine branches of the pterygopalatine ganglion, and, emerging from the greater palatine foramen, runs forward in a groove on the medial side of the alveolar border of the hard palate to the incisive canal; the terminal branch of the artery passes upward through this canal to anastomose with the sphenopalatine artery.

Branches

Branches are distributed to the gums, the palatine glands, and the mucous membrane of the roof of the mouth; while in the pterygopalatine canal it gives off twigs which descend in the lesser palatine canals to supply the soft palate and palatine tonsil, anastomosing with the ascending palatine artery.

According to Terminologia Anatomica, the descending palatine artery branches into the greater palatine artery and lesser palatine arteries.

See also

• Ascending palatine artery

Additional images

• Gray187.png

  Base of skull. Inferior surface.

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

External links

• lesson4 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (infratempfossaart)
• lesson9 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (nasalseptumart)