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Levator veli palatini
Other Terms:
Musculus levator veli palatini,
Muscle élévateur du voile du palais
Muscle parts
None
Latin name
Musculus levator veli palatini
Latin muscle parts
None
Group
Branchial arch muscle – fourth arch (Muscle of soft palate and fauces)
Etymology
The English name for this muscle is the muscle that lifts the veil, or curtain, at the roof of the mouth. The word levator comes from the Latin verb levare meaning “to lift.” The word veli is from the Latin vellum, which means “veil or curtain.” Palatini is the genitive form of the Latin palatum meaning “the roof of the mouth.”
Origin
Inferior surface of the petrous temporal bone just anterior to the carotid canal; the upper part of the carotid sheath; inferior surface of the pharyngotympanic tube
Insertion
Superior surface of the palatine aponeurosis
Action
Elevates the posterior part of the soft palate and pulls it toward the wall of the pharynx to close the nasopharynx; helps to narrow the pharynx.
Nerve supply
Vagus nerve (Cranial nerve X)
Blood supply
The ascending palatine artery, which is one of the cervical branches of the facial artery, supplies the muscle along with a somewhat variable branch of pharyngeal arteries from the external carotid artery.
Latin
Musculus levator veli palatini
French
Muscle élévateur du voile du palais
