title: Incidence of pterygospinous and pterygoalar bridges in dried skulls of Koreans.
abstract: Understanding of morphological structures such as the sphenoid spine and pterygoid processes is important during lateral transzygomatic infratemporal fossa approach. In addition, osseous variations such as pterygospinous and pterygoalar bridges are significant in clinical practice because they can produce various neurological disturbances or block the passage of a needle into the trigeminal ganglion through the foramen ovale. Two hundred and eighty-four sides of Korean adult dry skulls were observed to carry out morphometric analysis of the lateral plate of the pterygoid process, to investigate, for the first time among Koreans, the incidence of the pterygospinous and pterygoalar bony bridges, to compare the results with those available for other regional populations, and to discuss their clinical relevance as described on literatures. The mean of maximum widths of the left and right lateral plates of the pterygoid process were 15.99 mm and 16.27 mm, respectively. Also, the mean of maximum heights of the left and right lateral plates were 31.02 mm and 31.01 mm, respectively. The ossified pterygospinous ligament was observed in 51 sides of the skulls (28.0%). Ossification of the pterygospinous ligament was complete in four sides (1.4%). In 47 sides (16.6%), the pterygospinous bridge was incomplete. The ossified pterygoalar ligament was observed in 24 sides of the skulls (8.4%). Ossification was complete in eight sides (2.8%) and incomplete in 16 sides (5.6%). This detailed analysis of the lateral plate of the pterygoid process and related ossification of ligaments can improve the understanding of complex clinical neuralgias associated with this region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Anatomy, BK21 PLUS Project, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sol-Ji
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Anatomy, BK21 PLUS Project, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Kyu
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Catholic Institute for Applied Anatomy, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: U-Young
authors.initials: UY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Anatomy, BK21 PLUS Project, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Ho
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kwak
keywords: Pterygoalar bridge; Pterygoid process; Pterygospinous bridge; Sphenoid spine