Correspondence
Vijaykumar Shankar Shinde (MBBS, MD)
Assistant professor, Department of Anatomy,
VIMS, Bellary, Karnataka, India.
Phone: 9481747200.
E-mail: drvijaykumarss@gmail.com.

Introduction: Posterior border of lateral pterygoid plate near its upper border shows a ligament which may get ossified some times.

Methods: Study of ossification of pterygospinous ligament was conducted on 65 human adult skull bone specimens. The lateral pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone and the presence of ossified pterygospinous ligament were studied.

Results: Out of 65 specimens, only in 2 cases we observed the presence of flattened and broad lateral pterygoid plate andincompletely ossified pterygospinous ligament on left side in one and on right side of another skull bone.

Conclusion: The ossification of pterygospinous ligament can result in formation of a foramen through which mandibular nerve branches may pass in most of these cases. Mandibular nerve and chorda tympani nerves may get compressed depicting various clinical symptoms, which intern depend upon dimensions of the foramen and grades of compression.

This is important for radiologists, maxillofacial surgeons, dental surgeons and anaesthetists.

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