Pterygomeningeal artery
The accessory meningeal artery (also accessory branch of middle meningeal artery, pterygomeningeal artery, small meningeal or parvidural branch) is a branch of the maxillary artery, sometimes derived from the middle meningeal artery.
As proposed by Baumel and Beard 1) the proper name of the vessel should be pterygomeningeal artery (arteria pterygomeningica). This name should be used in anatomic as well as in neuroradiologic literature 2)
Only about 10% of the blood flowing through this artery reaches intracranial structures.
The remaining blood flow is dispersed to extracranial structures around the infratemporal fossa.
Reflecting this fact, Terminologia Anatomica lists entries for both “accessory branch of middle meningeal artery” and “pterygomeningeal artery”.
The artery passes upwards through the foramen ovale to supply the trigeminal ganglion and the dura mater of Meckel's cave and the middle cranial fossa. It also usually supplies the medial and superior head of the lateral pterygoids. During its course it is closely related to the tensor and levator veli palatini and runs deep to the mandibular nerve 3) 4)
The accessory meningeal artery may be identified as the arterial pedicle responsible for blood supply to meningiomas of the temporal fossa and possibly even to tumors of the Gasserian ganglion 5).