Abstract:

Objective To observe the anatomy of zygomatico-facial tube to provide data for surgical design and differentiation of fractures.Methods Images of totally 50 adults (100 sides) were observed after standardization. The presence, morphology, branches, mean length, origin, distance from the outer opening foramen (ZFF, zygomatico-facial foramen) to the inner margin of lateral orbit wall, number and diameter of the openings (inner one, ZOF, zygomatico-orbital foramen; outer one, ZFF) of the zygomatico-facial tube were evaluated. Results The presence of zygomatico-facial tube was seen in 89.0% of the cases. It may be straight or tortuous. A branch course into the zygomatic bone was present in 45 of 100 cases. The zygomatico-facial tube can be classified into six types based on the morphology: single tube (21.0%), double tubes (17.0%), triple tubes (1.0%), bifurcation (31.0%), double tubes with bifurcation (2.0%), and single tube combined with bifurcation (17.0%). The mean length was (10.2±2.0) mm with a gender difference. The ZFF were (8.7±1.7) mm away from the inner margin of the lateral orbit wall. One to three foramina of the origin foramen (ZOF, zygomatico-orbital foramen) and ZFF were seen. The diameter of ZOF and ZTF was (1.3±0.4) mm, 0.8 (1.5±0.5) mm respectively.Conclusion The zygomatico-facial tube is commonly present in the lateral orbital wall with a variety of morphology, origin and openings.

Key words: zygomatico-facial tube, zygomatico-facial foramen, zygomatico-orbital foramen, plastic surgery, tomography, X-ray computed