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Middle meningeal artery hemorrhage: an incorrect name.

Fishpool SJ, Suren N, Roncaroli F, Ellis H

Division of Anatomy, Cell and Human Biology, Guy's, King's and St Thomas's Schools of Biomedical Sciences, Medicine and Dentistry, Guy's Campus, London, United Kingdom. samfishpool@orange.net

Extradural hemorrhage is most commonly assumed to result from a middle meningeal artery rupture. This article challenges that assumption. The meningeal vasculature of 29 cadaveric specimens was examined macroscopically and microscopically at the level of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone and foramen spinosum. It was observed that the middle meningeal artery is accompanied by a pair of dural sinuses throughout the majority of its course, thus making exclusively arterial rupture an anatomical improbability. Furthermore, as these dural sinuses pass caudally through the foramen spinosum with the middle meningeal artery, they were seen to diverge to form a plexiform arrangement around the artery. This has not been reported before.

Published 1 May 2007 in Clin Anat, 20(4): 371-5.
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