Tensor veli palatini
Tensor veli palatini
- Latin synonym: Musculus tensor veli palatini
- Synonym: Tensor veli palatini muscle
Definition
Origin: Medial pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone
Insertion: Palatine aponeurosis
Nerve: Medial pterygoid of mandibular nerve
Action: Tension of the soft palate
Description:
The Tensor veli palatini (Tensor palati) is a broad, thin, ribbon-like muscle placed lateral to the Levator veli palatini. It arises by a flat lamella from the scaphoid fossa at the base of the medial pterygoid plate, from the spina angularis of the sphenoid and from the lateral wall of the cartilage of the auditory tube. Descending vertically between the medial pterygoid plate and the Pterygoideus internus it ends in a tendon which winds around the pterygoid hamulus, being retained in this situation by some of the fibers of origin of the Pterygoideus internus. Between the tendon and the hamulus is a small bursa. The tendon then passes medialward and is inserted into the palatine aponeurosis and into the surface behind the transverse ridge on the horizontal part of the palatine bone.
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