Sphenoid Bone, Inferior View

Description

Seen from below, the sphenoid bone’s central body sits on the midline of the cranial base, flanked laterally by the greater wings and, more superiorly, the lesser wings forming the posterior margin of the orbital roof. Anterior to posterior on the inferior surface, the rostrum and sphenoidal crest lead back toward the region of the sella turcica, while the pterygoid processes descend inferiorly from the junction of body and greater wing. Each pterygoid process separates into medial and lateral pterygoid plates with the pterygoid fossa between them, and the hamulus projects from the distal end of the medial plate. Small but exam-relevant foramina punctuate the greater wing near its root, including foramen ovale and foramen spinosum. An inferior skull base view is the one that maps cleanly to transforaminal anatomy, so you can track the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (V3) through foramen ovale and the middle meningeal artery through foramen spinosum, both frequent landmarks in surgery and on cross-sectional imaging. It also frames the pterygoid plates as attachment sites for the medial and lateral pterygoid muscles, a practical reminder when teaching mastication mechanics and temporomandibular dysfunction. For endoscopic endonasal and transpterygoid approaches to the skull base, the pterygoid process is the bony corridor surgeons drill and orient to, with the pterygopalatine fossa and adjacent neurovascular structures just anterior and lateral. Ideal for head and neck anatomy courses, dental and maxillofacial training modules, and operative atlases covering infratemporal fossa access or middle cranial fossa landmarks, this plate also supports radiology teaching when correlating foramina on CT of the skull base. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.