Petrotympanic fissure | |
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![]() Left temporal bone. Outer surface. (Petrotympanic fissure is labeled at left, fourth from top.) | |
![]() The right membrana tympani with the malleus and the chorda tympani, viewed from within, from behind, and from above. (Glaserian fissure labeled at center left.) | |
Details | |
Identifiers | |
Latin | fissura petrotympanica |
TA98 | A02.1.06.074 |
TA2 | 717 |
FMA | 55463 |
Anatomical terms of bone |
The petrotympanic fissure (also known as the squamotympanic fissure or the glaserian fissure) is a fissure in the temporal bone[1] that runs from the temporomandibular joint to the tympanic cavity.[2]
The mandibular fossa is bounded, in front, by the articular tubercle; behind, by the tympanic part of the bone, which separates it from the external acoustic meatus; it is divided into two parts by a narrow slit, the petrotympanic fissure.
It opens just above and in front of the ring of bone into which the tympanic membrane is inserted; in this situation it is a mere slit about 2 mm. in length. It lodges the anterior process and anterior ligament of the malleus, and gives passage to the anterior tympanic branch of the internal maxillary artery.