Mucosal perforators from the facial artery.
The cutaneous perforators of the facial artery have been well described, but to our knowledge the oral mucosal perforators have not. We studied 10 facial arteries from 10 hemifaces in 5 cadavers. The arteries were injected with latex, and we studied all perforators that extended from the facial artery and headed directly to the oral mucosa. The diameter and length of the facial artery and its mucosal perforators were measured and compared. We found 52 oral mucosal perforators in the 10 facial arteries injected with latex. Their mean (SD) diameter was 0.5 (0.2) mm and the mean (SD) number/facial artery was 5.2 (1.1). Their mean (SD) length was 16.4 (5.3) mm. Most of those to the cheek were localised between the branching-off points of the inferior and superior labial arteries. The facial artery has perforators to the oral mucosa of the cheek, most of them between the points at which the labial arteries emerge.
Institute of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery Dr. Serra-Renom, Hospital Quirón Barcelona, Plaza Alfonso Comín, 5-7, 08023 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Spain. Electronic address: mauriciocoronelbanda@yahoo.es.
Mauricio E
ME
Coronel-Banda
Institute of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery Dr. Serra-Renom, Hospital Quirón Barcelona, Plaza Alfonso Comín, 5-7, 08023 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Spain.
Jose M
JM
Serra-Renom
Laboratory of Functional and Surgical Anatomy, Campus Sant Cugat, Josep Trueta S/N, 08195 Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain; Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Spain.
Marian
M
Lorente
Milenium Coruña Medical Center, C / Federico Tapia 45, 15008 A Coruña, Spain.
Wendy P
WP
Larrea-Terán
D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002102:Cadaver; D002610:Cheek / Q000098:blood supply; D005145:Face / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D008046:Lip / Q000098:blood supply; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000098:blood supply*; D016707:Tissue Fixation / Q000379:methods
Facial artery; Mucosal perforators; Oral mucosa