The medial palpebral arteries (internal palpebral arteries) are arteries of the head that contribute arterial blood supply to the eyelids. They are derived from the ophthalmic artery; a single medial palpebral artery issues from the ophthalmic artery before splitting into a superior and an inferior medial palpebral artery,[1] each supplying one eyelid.
| Medial palpebral arteries | |
|---|---|
 The ophthalmic artery and its branches. (Medial palpebral labeled at center top.) | |
| Details | |
| Source | Ophthalmic artery |
| Branches | Superior palpebral arch inferior palpebral arch |
| Supplies | Eyelids |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | arteriae palpebrales mediales |
| TA98 | A12.2.06.044 |
| TA2 | 4496 |
| FMA | 70785 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
Anatomy
editOrigin
editA single medial palpebral artery issues from the ophthalmic artery before bifurcating into a superior and an inferior medial palpebral artery.[1]
The origin occurs near the trochlea of the superior oblique muscle.[2]: 570
Course
editThe medial palpebral arteries leave the orbit to encircle the eyelids near their free margins, forming a superior and an inferior arch, which lie between the orbicularis oculi and the tarsi.[2]: 570
Anastomoses
editThe superior medial palpebral artery anastomoses (at lateral angle of the orbit) with the upper lateral palpebral artery, and the zygomaticoorbital branch of the temporal artery.[2]: 570
The inferior medial palpebral artery anastomoses at the lateral angle of the orbit with the lower lateral palpebral artery, and with the transverse facial artery, and at the medial part of the lid with a branch from the angular artery (from this last anastomoses a branch passes to the nasolacrimal duct, ramifying in its mucous membrane as far as the inferior meatus of the nasal cavity).[2]: 570
Additional images
edit-
Bloodvessels of the eyelids, front view.
References
edit
This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 570 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)
- ^ a b Gupta, Neha; Motlagh, Mahsaw; Singh, Gurdeep (2022), "Anatomy, Head and Neck, Eye Arteries", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 30725748, retrieved 2022-12-26
- ^ a b c d Gray, Henry (1918). Gray's Anatomy (20th ed.).
