Abstract: Greater palatine foramen and lesser palatine foramen are deeply located in the maxilla and have a complicated structure that holds important vessels and nerves. Due to its special clinical significance, the structure has been considered important, yet difficult, for oral and maxillofacial surgeries. Combination of three-dimensional reconstruction techniques, such as multi-plane reorganization and volume rendering, with CT angiography techniques allows multi-slice helical CT to effectively evaluate the normal anatomy, adjacent structure and lesion character in the region of greater palatine foramen and lesser palatine foramen with continuous thin section imaging.

Key words: greater palatine foramen, lesser palatine foramen, multi-slice helical CT, three-dimensional reconstruction