Middle meningeal artery

The middle meningeal artery branches off the first part of the maxillary artery. It passes vertically through the roots of the auriculotemporal nerve and enters the middle cranial fossa via the foramen spinosum. Here it gives off two branches - superior tympanic branch and ganglionic branch - before dividing into anterior and posterior divisions:

• The anterior division runs anterolaterally through the middle cranial fossa on the greater wing of sphenoid before coursing superiorly, often grooving the bone, and passes under the pterion before giving its terminal branches over the upper parietal bone.
• The posterior division runs horizontally posteriorly over the squamous part of the temporal bone to gives its terminal branches over the lower parietal bone.