Temporalis muscle vasculature directly derived of the middle meningeal artery: a case report and review.

Pedicled temporalis muscular flap is a common procedure nowadays in reconstructive head and neck surgery, especially for oral or orbital cavity defects. We present a case of temporalis muscle and skull base dissection of a seventy-year-old fresh female cadaver with single temporal muscle vessels directly derived of the middle meningeal artery throughout the calvaria, therefore jeopardizing the harvest of the flap, which has never been described to our knowledge. Such a variation must be known of the reconstructive surgeon to plan the ideal reconstruction procedure.