Sphenopalatine foramen

Sphenopalatine foramen
Medial wall of left orbit. (Sphenopalatine foramen labeled in upper right.)
Left palatine bone. Posterior aspect. Enlarged. (Sphenopalatine foramen labeled in upper right.)
Details
Latin	foramen sphenopalatinum
Identifiers
Dorlands /Elsevier	f_12/12373697
TA
TH	{{#property:P1694}}
TE	{{#property:P1693}}
FMA	{{#property:P1402}}
Anatomical terms of bone [[[d:|edit on Wikidata]]]

The sphenopalatine foramen is a foramen in the skull that connects the nasal cavity with the pterygopalatine fossa.

Structure

The processes of the superior border of the palatine bone are separated by the sphenopalatine notch, which is converted into the sphenopalatine foramen by the under surface of the body of the sphenoid.

In the articulated skull this foramen leads from the pterygopalatine fossa into the posterior part of the superior meatus of the nose, and transmits the sphenopalatine artery and vein and the posterior superior lateral nasal nerve and nasopalatine nerves.

Additional images

• Gray167.png

  Articulation of left palatine bone with maxilla.

• 

  Left palatine bone. Nasal aspect. Enlarged.

References

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

External links

• lesson9 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (nasalwallbones) (#10)
• Anatomy photo:22:os-1108 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center