[Anatomy of the superficial parts of the face and neck].

The author presents four chapters concerning classical anatomy, an anatomical contribution to new facelifts, aesthetic anatomy, which recalls the aesthetic relations of the face, and finally a brief review of the mode of ageing of the face. The embryology of the superficial plane of the face and neck shows that the development of muscles of facial expression, deep and superficial fatty tissues, the facial nerve and the parotid is the result of divergent migratory movements and confluences. The anatomy is discussed in two parts: the first concerns conventional anatomy, and reviews the anatomical data acquired to date, the second proposes anatomical conclusions adapted to new surgical techniques of rejuvenation. The branches of the facial nerve are unusual in terms of their great variability. However, by using anatomical landmarks, it is possible to localize them precisely. The blood supply of the superficial tissues of the face and neck has been the subject of many studies. Deep monoblock facelifts, by sparing the blood supply of certain anatomical planes, allow the perfectly safe creation of extensive skin flaps. Some muscles of the face and neck are useful surgically. The orbicularis oculi muscle is also a muscle of the orbital margins by its depressing action on the eyebrows and levator action on the superficial malar adipose tissue. The corrugator muscle is a central element of new frontal endoscopy techniques. Elevation of the eyebrows is then ensured by the occipitofrontal complex which occupies only the medial two-thirds of the eyebrows. The zygomaticus major muscle must be released over its entire length because excessive traction on a SMAS flap can induce a disorder of facial expression. The platysma muscle plays an increasingly important role in cervical surgery and constitutes the deep guarantee of the cervical corset. The four fixed osteocutaneous points of the face: zygomatic (Mac Gregor), mandibular (Furnas), orbital (Psillakis) and masseteric play an antigravitational and functional role in facial expression. A macroscopic anatomical and histological study, performed on 60 dissections of hemifaces with several preparations defined the anatomy of the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), jugomalar adipose planes and the nasolabial fold. The SMAS is a strictly superficial surgical anatomy structure derived from the primitive platysma muscle, and does not possess any bony insertion. It is composed exclusively of platysma and risorius muscles. There is no parotid aponeurosis. The parotid is surrounded by a capsule. Its is limited in depth by the superficial cervical aponeurosis which lines the styloid curtain (Jost, Levet).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)