[Applied anatomical study of blood supply in human palate].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the origins and distributions of palatal vasculature and the three dimensional architecture.

METHODS

Materials consisted of 14 normal and 10 cleft palate head-and-neck specimens. After vascular infusion, specimens were seprately analysed by stereomicroscopy, radiography, histological study and scanning electron microscopy.

RESULTS

The greater palatine artery was the main vessel to supply the hard palate and the ascending palatine artery provided the principal supply of soft palate. The branches of greater palatine artery formed abundant anastomoses with the neighbor vessels. The ascending palatine artery divided into two branches in the soft palate. The artery branches in hard palate took on tree-like appearance and were arranged parallel. The capillary network was loosely packed. Whereas, the arteries in soft palate were always found to be crooked. The angles of the branches from the main trunk were changeable. The capillary network was packed densely. The vascular origins and courses of the cleft palate specimens were the same as the normal person, but the distributions and anastomoses were different.

CONCLUSIONS

The blood supplies of hard and soft palate come from different vascular vessels and their vascular architectures have their own character.