Middle Meningeal Artery And Its Importance In The Human Body

Middle Meningeal Artery And Its Importance In The Human Body

Every little thing in our body has great importance, and so does this middle meningeal artery in your head. Arteries and veins form this whole blood circulation system in the body, and arteries are the blood vessels that will carry the oxygenated blood from the heart to different parts of the body. The veins are the ones that carry deoxygenated blood from the body to the heart.

This blood is then pumped into the lungs to carry enough oxygen again. All different parts of the body have different arteries that carry the blood to those organs. Based on the area these arteries carry the blood to, the importance of these arteries is determined.

Middle meningeal artery

Since you already know that this artery passes through your head, then you should know it is the one carrying blood to your nervous system. The Middle meningeal artery passes from the skull base, which is known as the foramen spinosum. From the small opening, this artery passes to carry the oxygenated blood to the brain.

This opening is very small but is enough for an artery to pass through it. After passing through the foramen spinosum, the artery distributes to the areas of the brain where it needs to supply blood. The branches that come out of the middle meningeal artery also include the petrosal branch, which supplies facial nerves.

Location of middle meningeal artery

As you already know, the middle meningeal artery passes through the foramen spinosum, which is present at the bottom of the head. The foramen spinosum is present underneath the temporal bone and above the dura mater, which is the protective matter in your brain. Due to such a position, if an injury to the artery happens, this will cause internal bleeding within the brain’s protective matter makes the injury even worse.

Since three arteries are there to provide the blood supply there but the middle meningeal artery is the largest one among them all. The anterior part of the middle meningeal artery is present just beneath the pterion and given the fact that bine, there is the thing your artery is more likely to rupture when an injury at that side happens. The auriculotemporal nerve is wrapped around the medial meningeal artery. That is why there is an increased risk of damaging that nerve in the surgery.

Surgical consideration

When there is a tear in the middle meningeal artery, it can result in the formation of a hematoma. Removing that epidural hematoma through surgery in non-comatose patients has been a great success do safely. New researches and trials on the other non-surgical methods are being done. For no surgical options remain the best option and are the main treatment in removal of epidural hematoma.

Another thing that is completely dependent on the surgery is the traumatic pseudoaneurysm. There is a chance of a second rupture in traumatic pseudoaneurysms, so it is better to have surgery done as soon as possible. The course of the artery is one of the thig s that the surgeon should worry about. This is very important to know by a surgeon because when dealing with such a sensitive part of the brain, you can end up causing a lot of damage.

Clinical importance of middle meningeal artery

The Middle meningeal artery is the largest one of all the meningeal arteries is a very important one; there are a few medical situations that are related to the middle meningeal artery, and that is what’s clinically significant about this artery.

Epidural hematoma

Epidural hematoma results when the artery in the skull vault gets damaged because of an injury to the head. When an injury occurs, the blood vessel rupture causes internal bleeding and leading to epidural hematoma formation. This can cause the patient to lose consciousness and can also be followed by an episode of lucid. Surgery is required if the symptoms start showing early on after the injury.

Aneurysm

Aneurism and pseudoaneurysm of the middle meningeal artery can happen; pseudoaneurysm results when an injury to the head ruptures the artery, and a clot is formed at that point to avoid blood leakage. This clot will create a false lumen. A true aneurysm happens because of original hemodynamic stress. But both types of aneurysms can happen because of the injury to the head.

Migraine

The Middle meningeal artery is also known to play its part in the onset of migraine too. It is the dilation of the middle meningeal artery that can be the cause of migraine. This artery goes into the gray matter, which has a lot of pain receptive material. This is why the dilation in this artery can cause migraines. Even though this middle meningeal artery is not the line cause f migraine, it sure does play its part in it. Sumatriptan is a drug that can help with vasodilation, and the use of this medicine observed a decrease in migraines.

Chronic subdural hematoma

Chronic subdural hematomas are also associated with the middle meningeal artery, and minimally invasive procedures can remove them. Such minimally invasive surgeries are performed for those chronic subdural hematomas that cannot go away by any other method.

Arteriovenous fistula

An arteriovenous fistula is one of the other things that are also associated with the middle meningeal artery; along with the middle meningeal artery, some veins also run through the skull. The arteriovenous fistula occurs a lot frequently in case of injury. So, in case of an injury to the skull, a situation may arise. But this can be resolved on its own as well, so it is not a dangerous situation. The fistula will diminish on its own without any severe medical intervention.

Conclusion

So this was everything you needed to know about the middle meningeal artery. This artery is present within your skull and is responsible for a lot of medical conditions. Dealing with all those medial conditions is impossible without learning about the middle meningeal artery.

Category: Diseases

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