MEDIA HYPE - MUSCULUS SPHENOMANDIBULARIS

The report of an allegedly so far unknown craniomandibular muscle ('th e sphenomandibularis') in 1996 by Dunn and co-workers provoked much co mment in journals and newspapers. The authors' hypothesized role of th e 'm. sphenomandibularis' in temporomandibular disorders and headaches coated hopes and expectations. The present article examines whether t wo detailed descriptions by Ramalho and co-workers [1978, in Portugues e], and by Zenker [1954, 1955, and 1956, in German] deal with the very same muscle. From the comparison of these descriptions it becomes evi dent that the 'm. sphenomandibularis' is not a new muscle, but corresp onds to the `medial portion' [2enker], or 'deep portion! [Ramalho et a l.] of the temporalis muscle. Further directed search identified descr iptions of the muscle in question back into the 19th century.