Accessory meningeal artery.

The accessory meningeal artery, originating from either the internal maxillary or middle meningeal artery, is predominantly an extracranial vessel. A minor branch of the artery enters the skull through the foramen ovale to supply the dura of the temporal fossa as well as the Gasserian ganglion. This intracranial branch may be demonstrated on angiography and may serve as a collateral between the external and the internal carotid arteries, with or without a complex intervening vascular network. The accessory meningeal artery may be identified as the arterial pedicle responsible for blood supply to meningiomas of the temporal fossa and possibly even to tumors of the Gasserian ganglion.