Investigation of the presence and variation of the ascending mental artery: Conventional dissections and ultrasonographic study.

[BACKGROUND] Tongue and mouth floor infarction following filler injections for chin augmentation is a rare complication that has the increase in incidence been reported.

[OBJECTIVE] This study investigated the arterial anastomosis between the submental and sublingual arteries that can lead to the emboli and subsequent tongue infarction during chin augmentation.

[METHODS] Forty-two formaldehyde-embalmed cadavers and four soft-embalmed cadavers were dissected to verify the incidence and source of the ascending mental artery. Ultrasonographic study of the artery was performed in 10 healthy volunteers. Attention was paid to discriminate whether the ascending mental artery arose from the submental artery or the sublingual artery using the arch of the mylohyoid muscle as the discriminating landmark.

[RESULTS] Incidence of ascending mental artery from the sublingual artery was 7.1% in the studied population. All ascending mental arteries were 0.7 ± 0.2 mm in diameter at the mental protuberance and were branches of the submental artery that arose from the facial artery, except for two arteries that arose from the sublingual artery. Ultrasonographic study revealed that one left and one right sublingual artery from the lingual arteries penetrated the mylohyoid muscle near the midline to become the ascending mental artery in two volunteers. The ascending mental artery from the other side continued from the submental artery.

[CONCLUSION] Findings from the cadaveric dissections and ultrasonographic study revealed that the ascending mental artery may be a branch that continues from the lingual artery, or communicates with the sublingual artery through the mouth floor.