Anatomy & Histology · patient case question
Which structure does the parotid gland wrap around?
Patient case: Muscles, movement and a fractured condyle
demo: 29-year-old male
chief: Fell from a bicycle onto his chin; his bite now feels wrong.
history: No relevant medical history.
meds: None.
findings: Deviation of the mandible on opening, an anterior open bite and preauricular tenderness. Imaging confirms a fracture of the condylar neck with the condylar head displaced out of the fossa.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. The ramus of the mandible
- A. The submandibular gland relates to the body of the mandible, lying in the submandibular triangle and hooking around the posterior border of mylohyoid.
- B. The styloid process and the muscles arising from it form part of the deep boundary of the parotid bed, but the gland wraps the ramus.
- C. Correct. The parotid occupies the retromandibular fossa and wraps around the posterior border of the ramus, with a superficial lobe lateral to it and a deep lobe medial. Between them run the facial nerve, the retromandibular vein and the external carotid artery, which is why identifying the nerve is the central problem of parotid surgery.
- D. The zygomatic arch is the superior boundary of the parotid region, not the structure it envelops.
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