Abstract

It is not uncommon for the muscular branches from the facial artery to be cut during routine dissections. On a cadaver, we detected three branches above normal diameter originating from the facial artery on the left side. Of these branches, two joined the masseter muscle, and the other ran along the medial edge of the masseter muscle, gave a branch to the masseter muscle, and then advanced deeply to the external surface of the buccinator muscle. The transverse facial and the masseteric arteries from the superficial temporal and the maxillary arteries, respectively, were normal in appearance. Anatomists, surgeons, and dentists should be familiar with the vascular variations of the masseter muscle, which pose significant risks for injuries during dissections.