part of part of skull anatomical line pterygomaxillary fissure http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Gray189.png Wikipedia:Pterygomaxillary_fissure UBERON:0013445 FMA:76627 The pterygomaxillary fissure is a fissure of the human skull. It is vertical, and descends at right angles from the medial end of the inferior orbital fissure; it is a triangular interval, formed by the divergence of the maxilla from the pterygoid process of the sphenoid. It connects the infratemporal with the pterygopalatine fossa, and transmits the terminal part of the maxillary artery. Alveolar branches of the maxillary nerve go from the pterygopalatine fossa to the infratemporal region via this fissure. In older texts, the pterygomaxillary fissure is sometimes called the pterygopalatine fissure.