Temporal muscle

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A Moment in History

Georg Eduard Von Rindfleisch
(1836 – 1908)

German pathologist and histologist of Bavarian nobility ancestry. Rindfleisch studied medicine in Würzburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg, earning his MD in 1859 with the thesis “De Vasorum Genesi” (on the generation of vessels) under the tutelage of Rudolf Virchow (1821 - 1902). He then continued as a assistant to Virchow in a newly founded institute in Berlin. He then moved to Breslau in 1861 as an assistant to Rudolf Heidenhain (1834–1897), becoming a professor of pathological anatomy. In 1865 he became full professor in Bonn and in 1874 in Würzburg, where a new pathological institute was built according to his design (completed in 1878), where he worked until his retirement in 1906.

He was the first to describe the inflammatory background of multiple sclerosis in 1863, when he noted that demyelinated lesions have in their center small vessels that are surrounded by a leukocyte inflammatory infiltrate.

After extensive investigations, he suspected an infectious origin of tuberculosis - even before Robert Koch's detection of the tuberculosis bacillus in 1892. Rindfleisch 's special achievement is the description of the morphologically conspicuous macrophages in typhoid inflammation. His distinction between myocardial infarction and myocarditis in 1890 is also of lasting importance.

Associated eponyms

"Rindfleisch's folds": Usually a single semilunar fold of the serous surface of the pericardium around the origin of the aorta. Also known as the plica semilunaris aortæ.

"Rindfleisch's cells": Historical (and obsolete) name for eosinophilic leukocytes.

Personal note: G. Rindfleisch’s book “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” 2nd edition (1873) is now part of my library. This book was translated from German to French by Dr. Frédéric Gross (1844-1927) , Associate Professor of the Medicine Faculty in Nancy, France. The book is dedicated to Dr. Theodore Billroth (1829-1894), an important surgeon whose pioneering work on subtotal gastrectomies paved the way for today’s robotic bariatric surgery. Dr. Miranda.

Sources:
1. "Stedmans Medical Eponyms" Forbis, P.; Bartolucci, SL; 1998 Williams and Wilkins
2. "Rindfleisch, Georg Eduard von (bayerischer Adel?)" Deutsche Biographie
3. "The pathology of multiple sclerosis and its evolution" Lassmann H. (1999) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 354 (1390): 1635–40.
4. “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” G.E.
Rindfleisch 2nd Ed (1873) Ballieres et Fils. Paris, Translated by F Gross

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Details: Written by: Fernanda Cortes, DDS, MSc; Published: January 17, 2017; Hits: 5860

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The temporal muscle (Lat:Temporalis) is a bilateral muscle located on the side of the head. It belongs to a subgroup of head muscles called Masticatory Muscles, named after their function elevating the mandible to produce the mandible movements (1,2). Masticatory muscles are four per side: Temporalis, Masseter, Pterygoideus medialis and Pterygoideus lateralis (1,2).

The temporalis muscle is a fan-shaped muscle which occupies the temporal fossa from which its fascicles (fibers) converge to the coronoid process of the mandible. Classic description for this muscle recognizes three main muscular bodies (anterior, midle, and posterior) originated from the temporal fossa up to the lower temporalis line and the temporalis fascia, fascicles which descend through the inner part de the zygomatic arch converging to be inserted on the coronoid process of the mandible, its temporalis crest and anterior margin of the mandibular branch through thick tendons (1,2).

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In 1996 Dunn et al. (3) reported the discovery of a so far unknown masticatory muscle called the “sphenomandibularis”, originated from the greater wing of the sphenoid bone medial to the temporalis muscle and descends on an oblique (lateral and slightly posterior) fashion reaching distally the coronoid process of the mandible. This muscular portion has been recognized as the “deep belly of the temporalis muscle” and has been described by several authors since then (4,5,6,8). The importance that has been given to this particular bundle lies on the fact that its medial insertion can reach a close relationship to the foramen rotundum, place of emergency from the cranium of the maxillary nerve, which has been hypothesized, could lead to eventual alteration of this nerve if it got trapped by this part of the muscle (6, 7).

The temporalis muscle receives innervation fundamentally from branches of the mandibular nerve: Deep temporal nerve (N. temporalis profundus)through its anterior middle and posterior branches.

The temporalis muscle is covered by a thick fascia layer: the temporalis fascia.

Article written by: Maria F. Cortés, DDS, MSc.

Images from:
Fig 1. Public domain, by Henry Vandyke Carter, MD - Gray's Anatomy, 1918
Fig 2. Geers C, Nyssen-Behets C, Cosnard G, Lengelé B. The deep belly of the temporalis muscle: an anatomical, histological and MRI study. Surg Radiol Anat. 2005 Aug;27(3):184-91. Epub 2005 Apr 9

Sources:
1. “Anatomía humana” V.2. Latarjet- Ruiz Liard, 4ª ed. 6ª reimp. 2008 Médica Panamericana, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2. “Anatomía humana: descriptiva, topográfica y funcional. Tomo 1. Cabeza y Cuello, Rouviere H – Delmas A, 11° ed. 2005 MASSON, S.A., Barcelona, Spain.
3. Dunn GF, Hack GD, Robinson WL, Koritzer RT. Anatomical observation of a craniomandibular muscle originating from the skull base: the sphenomandibularis. Cranio. 1996 Apr;14(2):97-103; discussion 104-5.
4. Shimokawa T, Akita K, Soma K, Sato T. Innervation analysis of the small muscle bundles attached to the temporalis: truly new muscles or merely derivatives of the temporalis? Surg Radiol Anat. 1998;20(5):329-34.
5. Akita K, Shimokawa T, Sato T. Aberrant muscle between the temporalis and the lateral pterygoid muscles: M. pterygoideus proprius (Henle). Clin Anat. 2001 Jul;14(4):288-91.
6. Schön Ybarra MA, Bauer B. Medial portion of M. Temporalis and its potential involvement in facial pain. Clin Anat. 2001;14(1):25-30.
7. Fuentes E, Llanos S, Gómez R, Llanos P, Llanos F, Cortés-Sylvester MF, Solaria P, Melian A, Asfura J, Santos M, Zamorano E. Discovery of deep temporalis muscle belly close to maxillary nerve in a patient with trigeminal neuralgia: hypothesis of muscular compression and case report treated by Botox® Onabotulinum toxin tipe-A. Chirurgia 2016 June;29(3):99-102
8. Geers C, Nyssen-Behets C, Cosnard G, Lengelé B. The deep belly of the temporalis muscle: an anatomical, histological and MRI study. Surg Radiol Anat. 2005 Aug;27(3):184-91. Epub 2005 Apr 9.

Temporal muscle

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