We found a case of the right maxillary artery piercing the temporal muscle in a 71-year-old Japanese male cadaver during an anatomical dissection carried out at Iwate Medical University in 2005. The main route of the maxillary artery in this case was running near the infratemporal ridge which was the extreme inferior origin of the temporal muscle. The origin of the pierced muscle bundle by this artery was from the infratemporal ridge to the infratemporal fossa. At the mastication, the route of the maxillary artery piercing the temporal muscle was thought productive of a disturbance in the bloodstream. We alerted the surgeon about the route in this case when the operation area reached the pterygopalatine fossa.
