An anatomical study on the lingual-facial trunk.
OBJECTIVE
We quantified variations of the lingual artery origin, measured the lingual artery origin distance from clinical relevant landmarks and compared the lingual artery diameters with normal and variable origin.


METHODS
Forty-two formalin fixed male cadavers were bilaterally evaluated. Measurements were performed with the aid of an electronic digital caliper.


RESULTS
The origin distances from the common carotid artery bifurcation was 1.05 +/- 0.11 and 1.02 +/- 0.11 cm for the right and left lingual arteries respectively with no differences compared to the lingual-facial trunks. The diameters of the lingual arteries were 0.25 +/- 0.01 and 0.26 +/- 0.01 cm for the right and left sides, respectively, while the lingual-facial trunks showed diameters of 0.21 +/- 0.02 and 0.24 +/- 0.02 cm for the right and left sides, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study adds information on the lingual artery diameter and its anatomical relation to clinically useful landmarks.
Fazan
Valéria Paula Sassoli
VP
Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Minas Gerais, Brazil. vpsfazan@yahoo.com.br
da Silva
Jefferson Hilário Nery
JH
Borges
Celso Teixeira
CT
Ribeiro
Rogério Alves
RA
Caetano
Abadio Gonçalves
AG
Filho
Omar Andrade Rodrigues
OA
D002102:Cadaver; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005145:Face / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014059:Tongue / Q000098:blood supply*