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Levator veli palatini muscle

The Levator veli palatini is a key muscle of the soft palate, essential for swallowing and speech. It forms the main muscular bulk of the soft palate and is primarily responsible for elevating the soft palate to close off the nasopharynx during swallowing and phonation. Its deep location and functional importance make it clinically significant in disorders of swallowing and velopharyngeal competence.

Anatomy and Features

  • Function:

    • Elevates the soft palate during swallowing and speaking

    • Prevents food and liquid from entering the nasopharynx

    • Contributes to closure of the pharyngeal isthmus during swallowing

  • Origin:

    • Inferior surface of the petrous part of the temporal bone (medial to the opening of the pharyngotympanic tube)

    • Medial aspect of the cartilage of the pharyngotympanic (Eustachian) tube

  • Insertion:

    • Palatine aponeurosis of the soft palate

    • Blends with fibers from the opposite side

  • Nerve Supply:

    • Pharyngeal plexus via the vagus nerve (cranial nerve X), primarily through fibers from the cranial part of the accessory nerve (cranial nerve XI)

  • Artery Supply:

    • Ascending palatine branch of the facial artery

    • Ascending pharyngeal artery (branch of the external carotid artery)

    • Lesser palatine artery (branch of the descending palatine artery, from the maxillary artery)

  • Vein Supply:

    • Venous drainage is primarily via the pterygoid plexus and pharyngeal venous plexus, which ultimately drain into the internal jugular vein

Radiological Appearance

  • MRI Appearance:

    • T1-weighted images:

      • Muscle appears as intermediate (isointense) signal compared to adjacent soft tissues

    • T2-weighted images:

      • Muscle demonstrates low to intermediate signal intensity

    • STIR (Short Tau Inversion Recovery):

      • Suppresses fat; muscle shows intermediate signal; pathology such as edema or inflammation appears as increased (hyperintense) signal

  • CT Appearance:

    • The levator veli palatini appears as a soft tissue structure within the soft palate

    • It is best appreciated in axial and coronal planes, running obliquely from the temporal bone toward the soft palate

MRI images

Levator veli palatini muscle mri axial image -img-00000-00000