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The tensor veli palatini (tensor palati) is a broad, thin, ribbon-like muscle in the head that tenses the soft palate.
Structure
The tensor veli palatini is found lateral to the levator veli palatini muscle.
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 medial pterygoid muscle, 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 medial pterygoid muscle.
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.
Innervation
The tensor veli palatini is innervated by the medial pterygoid nerve, a branch of mandibular nerve, the third branch of the trigeminal nerve (CN V).
Actions
It is associated both with mastication and with the opening of the Eustachian tube through its function of tensing the palate.
Additional images
Base of skull. Inferior surface.
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Mandibular division of trifacial nerve, seen from the middle line.
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See also
External links
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.
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