pterygoid fossa

Not to be confused with the pterygoid fossa of the sphenoid bone.

The two plates diverge behind and enclose between them a V-shaped fossa, the pterygoid fossa, which contains pterygoideus internus and tensor veli palatini.

The lateral and medial pteryoid plates (of the pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone) diverge behind and enclose between them a V-shaped fossa, the pterygoid fossa.

In the pterygoid processes of the sphenoid, above the pterygoid fossa is a small, oval, shallow depression, the scaphoid fossa, which gives origin to the Tensor veli palatini.

Tumor invades any of the following: bone of the posterior wall of maxillary sinus, subcutaneous tissues, floor or medial wall of orbit, pterygoid fossa, or ethmoid sinuses.

The pterygoid fossa is an anatomical term for the fossa formed by the divergence of the lateral pterygoid plate and the medial pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone.

The furrows articulate with the pterygoid plates, while the grooved intermediate area completes the lower part of the pterygoid fossa and gives origin to a few fibers of the Pterygoideus internus.

The lateral surface of this plate forms part of the pterygoid fossa, the medial surface constitutes the lateral boundary of the choana or posterior aperture of the corresponding nasal cavity.