Abstract
The middle meningeal artery and its whole ramifications in the rabbit were studied by the acryl injection method. Simultaneously, the stapedial artery presumed to represent an embryological remnant was investigated in 3 cases of the total of 120 examples observed in relation to the branches of this artery. The middle meningeal artery arose from the maxillary artery just distal to the alar canal in most cases, rarely via common trunks between neighboring vessels, and ran superoposteriorly up to the posterior end of the oval foramen, where it gave rise to twigs to the mandibular nerve, the tympanic tensor and the inferior branch to the trigeminal ganglion. The artery entered the petrotympanic fissure, giving off the superior branch to the ganglion within it and the petrosal branch and the superior tympanic artery within the bone tissue. Rarely, the former was not found but the latter. In the above 3 cases, the stapedialartery of the internal carotid artery was found. The petrosal branch ran posteriorly along the minor petrosal nerve, then the facial nerve up to a position above the vestibular fenestra, when it gave rise to the branch to the promontorium and the stapedial m. branch and anastomosed with the stylomastroid artery. The superior tympanic ran posteromedially along the major petrosal nerve, giving rise to the trigeminal ganglionic branch and a thick meningeal branch, up to the genicular ganglion to supply it. The branch to the promontorium and the superior tympanic may correspond to the stapedial artery represented in an embyological pattern. This artery passed between the stapedial crura and forwards beneath the facial nerve to supply the genicular ganglion, anastomosing with the superior tympanic. The main stream of the middle meningeal artery passed superoposteroanteriorly within the groove for this artery, where it gave rise to the anterior and posterior branches which supplied the dura mater on the petrosal part. The parent artery thus ascended in the parietotemporal suture up to the meeting point between the temporal, occipital and parietal bones, where it gave off the temporal muscular branch which emerged onto the extracranial surface to supply the temporal muscle. The main stream of the artery finally hooked downwards to supply the dura mater on the posterior slope of the petrosa and the parafloccular fossa.
