General Anatomy
General Anatomy in NEET-MDS tests clinically applied gross anatomy: skull osteology, temporomandibular joint, cranial nerves, neck spaces, and branchial arch development. Questions often link a lesion site to a deficit rather than asking pure recall.
Core rules
- Skull foramina carry named structures: foramen ovale carries the mandibular nerve; foramen rotundum the maxillary nerve; stylomastoid foramen the facial nerve.
- The TMJ is a synovial joint with a fibrocartilaginous disc; lateral pterygoid initiates opening and protrusion.
- Mandibular division branches include auriculotemporal, lingual, inferior alveolar, and mylohyoid nerves.
- Carotid triangle contains the carotid bifurcation, internal jugular vein, and vagus nerve; submandibular triangle contains the gland and hypoglossal nerve.
Worked example
After parotid surgery a patient cannot close the right eye, has a dropped right mouth corner, and cannot wrinkle the right forehead. The lesion is the right facial nerve at or distal to the stylomastoid foramen. Forehead involvement indicates a peripheral lower motor neuron lesion; an upper motor neuron lesion spares the forehead because frontal muscle receives bilateral cortical input.
Traps
- Do not confuse Horner syndrome with facial palsy; Horner syndrome causes ptosis and miosis, not facial weakness.
- Lingual nerve carries chorda tympani taste fibers for the anterior two-thirds of the tongue; posterior taste is glossopharyngeal.
- Erb palsy affects C5-C6 and produces waiter tip; Klumpke palsy affects C8-T1 and produces claw hand.
- The maxillary artery is the main blood supply of the face and passes through the infratemporal fossa.