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Doubled foramen rotundum and maxillary nerve fenestration

  • Anatomic Variations
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Abstract

Even though the doubled foramen rotundum (FR) can be identified once within the literature, there are no details of the contents at that level. We present here an anatomical case demonstrating the maxillary nerve (MN) duplication at the level of an unilateral doubled FR: the accessory nervous trunk of the MN separately left the trigeminal ganglion on the outer side of the MN main trunk and coursed beneath the main trunk of the MN canal, within the sphenoidal greater wing, to join infero-medially that main trunk at the entrance in the pterygopalatine fossa. Overall, the MN appeared as fenestrated, with a thin bony plate separating the two cords of the nerve traversing the skull base. Previously undocumented, the MN duplication may interfere with various surgical exposures interfering with the foramen rotundum and may explain atypical sensory syndromes and functional impairment during skull base trauma or anesthesia.

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Acknowledgments

Researches were supported by CNCSIS –UEFISCSU (Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education and University Scientific Research), project number 317 PNII–IDEI, code ID_763/2007. This paper was also partly supported by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development (SOPHRD), financed from the European Social Fund and by the Romanian Government under the contract number POSDRU 64153.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Anatomy, Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, 8, Bd. Eroilor Sanitari, 076241, Bucharest, Romania

    Mugurel Constantin Rusu

  2. Str. Anastasie Panu 1, bloc A2, scara 2, etaj 1, apart. 32, sector 3, 031161, Bucharest, Romania

    Mugurel Constantin Rusu

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  1. Mugurel Constantin Rusu
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Correspondence to Mugurel Constantin Rusu.

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Rusu, M.C. Doubled foramen rotundum and maxillary nerve fenestration. Surg Radiol Anat 33, 723–726 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-011-0810-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-011-0810-1

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