Alikhan Flashcards
(161 cards)
What are Langer’s lines?
Lines along skin that will “gape when punctured with a spike”
Run parallel to underlying muscles (in contrast to relaxed skin tension lines, which run perpendicular to underlying muscles”
What are relaxed skin tension lines?
Lines that run perpendicular to underlying muscles
Also known as Kraissl and Borges lines
What are the important branches of the external carotid artery?
- Superficial temporal artery (temple, scalp, lateral forehead)
- Maxillary artery (supplies infraorbital and mental arteries)
- Facial artery (supplies superior and inferior labial arteries)
What regions of the face does the superficial temporal artery supply?
Temple, scalp and lateral forehead
What arteries are supplied by the maxillary artery? (2)
What regions of the face does each of these arteries supply? (2 each)
- Infraorbital artery (mid face, nasal dorsum)
- Mental artery (lower lip, chin)
What arteries does the facial artery supply? (2)
What regions of the face do these arteries supply? (5)
- Superior labial artery
- Inferior labial artery
These supply the upper and lower lips, chin, nasal ala and columella.
What is important about the facial artery and filler injection?
The facial artery courses medially deep to melolabial fold, giving rise to the angular artery at the base of the ala.
This area is susceptible to intra-arterial injection during filler injection!
What branch of the internal carotid artery does the facial artery anastamose with?
Dorsal nasal artery (a branch of the internal carotid artery)
Occurs near medial canthus
What artery is responsible for most of the facial arteries supplied by the internal carotid artery?
Ophthalmic artery
What are the important branches of the ophthalmic artery? (9)
What regions of the face do these branches all supply? (4)
- Retinal
- Supraorbital
- Supratrochlear
- Infratrochlear
- Dorsal nasal
- External nasal
- Anterior ethmoidal
- Posterior ethmoidal
- Lacrimal
These branches supply the retina, forehead, upper dorsal nose and eyelids.
What is the risk of injection of steroids or filler into the glabella?
Intraarterial injection of the underlying supratrochlear artery and its anastamoses may occur.
This can lead to skin necrosis or blindness due to communication with the retinal artery.
Where do the supratrochlear and supraorbital veins drain?
What is the related “danger triangle”?
Drain through orbit into the cavernous sinus
The danger triangle extends from corners of mouth to nasal bridge.
Infections of danger triangle can cause cavernous sinus thrombosis, meningitis and brain abscesses for this reason.
Into what lymph nodes do each of the following facial areas drain?
- Forehead, lateral temporal, frontal and periocular areas
- Medial midface
- Lower face
- Forehead, lateral temporal, frontal and periocular areas
- Upper jugular nodes
- Medial midface
- Submandibular nodes
- Lower face
- Submental nodes
What does SMAS stand for?
Superficial musculoaponeurotic system
Relative to the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), where are motor and sensory nerves located?
- Motor nerves are deep to SMAS
- Sensory nerves are superficial to SMAS
Sensory innervation of the face is almost entirely supplied by what cranial nerve?
CN V (trigeminal nerve)
What syndromes can damage to CN V (trigeminal nerve) lead to? (2)
- Trigeminal trophic syndrome (classically involving the nasal ala, upper lip or paranasal area)
- Frey’s syndrome (also known as auriculotemporal syndrome; gustatory sweating of facial and periauricular areas with eating)
What are the three branches of CN V (trigeminal nerve)?
- Ophthalmic (V1)
- Maxillary (V2)
- Mandibular (V3)
What are the three major branches of CN V1 (ophthalmic nerve)?
- Frontal (two divisions: supraorbital and supratrochlear nerves)
- Nasociliary (three divisions: infratrochlear and anterior ethmoidal nerves)
- Ciliary (supplies lacrimal nerve)
What is Hutchinson’s sign?
- Involvement of nasociliary branch by VZV
- Presents with distal nasal vesicles and ulcers
- Almost always associated with herpes zoster ophthalmicus!
What are the three main divisions of CN V2 (maxillary nerve)?
- Infraorbital (includes nasal sidewall, nasal ala and upper lip)
- Zygomaticofacial (malar eminence)
- Zygomaticotemporal (temple and supratemporal scalp)
What are the main divisions of CN V3 (mandibular nerve)?
- Auriculotemporal (superior portion of anterior external ear, external auditory canal, temple, temporoparietal scalp, TMJ, parasympathetic innervation of parotid gland)
- Buccal
- Inferior alveolar
- Mental (chin and lower lip)
- Lingual (somatic sensation of anterior two-thirds of tongue)
What nerve may be injuried with TMJ surgery or parotidectomy?
Auriculotemporal nerve
- Can lead to paresthesia of anterior external ear and temple, as well as Frey syndrome

What cervical nerves provide the sensory innervation to the following areas?
- Neck, postauricular scalp
- Occipital scalp (majority)
- Lateral neck, angle of jaw, majority of external ear (anterior and posterior portions, and earlobe), postauricular scalp
- Anterior neck
- Anterior chest and shoulder
- Neck, postauricular scalp
- Lesser occipital (C2)
- Occipital scalp (majority)
- Greater occipital (C2)
- Lateral neck, angle of jaw, majority of external ear (anterior and posterior portions, and earlobe), postauricular scalp
- Great auricular (C2, C3)
- Anterior neck
- Transverse cervical (C2, C3)
- Anterior chest and shoulder
- Supraclavicular (C3, C4)






































