fa عمومی General پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%">Background: Understanding the anatomical pathway and variations of the facial artery helps maxillofacial surgeons and otolaryngologists reduce surgical complications. This study aimed to investigate anatomical variations in the facial artery pathway and to determine sex differences.</span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%">Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2021 at Ali Ibn Abi Taleb Hospital, Rafsanjan, on 150 patients who underwent CT angiography. The arterial path was evaluated and classified into four types: (1) termination in the upper lip, (2) nasolabial fold, (3) nasal ala or corner of the eye, and (4) two terminal branches. Percentage frequency was used to determine the dominant pattern, and the chi-square test was applied to assess sex differences (&alpha; = 0.05).</span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%">Results: The mean age of participants was 58.69 &plusmn; 9.15 years; 21.3% were women and 78.7% men. On the right side, the most common arterial pattern was type III (40.7%), and the least common was type IV (7.3%). On the left side, the most frequent pattern was also type III (40%), and the least was type IV (7.3%). No statistically significant differences were found between males and females (P = 0.45 and P = 0.35, respectively).</span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%">Conclusion: The predominant termination pattern of the facial artery was at the nasal ala or corner of the eye (angular artery). Awareness of these variations is important in surgical procedures, especially when angiographic evaluation is not feasible, to prevent iatrogenic vascular injury.</span></span></span></span></span></div> &nbsp; 19 24 http://cofs.khuisf.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-62&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 Zeinab Barzegarpour 10031947532846001017 10031947532846001017 No Faculty of Dentistry, Isf.c, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran Mohammad Javad – Saeedi Borujeni 10031947532846001018 10031947532846001018 Yes Mehdi Abrishami 10031947532846001019 10031947532846001019 No