Abstract: Objective　To study the anatomical characteristics and mark of the middle temporal vein(MTV), providing anatomical basis for clinical application.　Methods　Twenty-six（ 12 cases on the left , 14 cases on the right ）human head specimens perfused with 10% formalin solution were collected, and the middle temporal vein and its tributary were dissected. The distribution of the MTV was observed. The distance from the trunk of the MTV to each anatomical landmark and pipe diameter were measured. The number of tributaries was accounted. The difference between the left side and right side was compared.　Results　All specimens had middle temporal veins, with an average trunk diameter of 2.91 mm (0.72~5.88 mm), had 0~7 tributaries , with an average tributary diameter of 2.05 mm (0.54~5.30 mm). There were 2 levels of tributary in 1 case (accounting for 3.8 %). The locations of the confluence points that the trunk merging into the superficial temporal vein were not exactly the same. The high confluence points were located at the root of the zygomatic arch in 11 cases (accounting for 42.3% ) and the low were at the lower edge of the zygomatic arch 9.02~21.00 mm.  Trunk had three types according to the distribution: ① 14 cases of classic type (accounting for 53.8%) ② 8 cases of split aggregation type (accounting for 30.8%) ③ 4 cases of right-angled type (accounting for 15.4%). The average vertical distance from the turning point to the interior edge of the tragus was 18.69 mm. The mean distance of the left side from the trunk to the midpoint of zygomatic arch, the junction of the orbital outer edge and the zygomatic arch, the outer canthus, and the outer end of eyebrow were (17.23±7.29)、(18.82±9.00)、(21.14±6.96)、(9.62±8.87) mm respectively and the right of those  were (17.28±5.74)、(18.34±7.63)、(19.40±6.98)、(8.17±5.53) mm respectively. The corresponding mean diameter of the vein in the left were (3.75±1.63)、(3.34±1.00)、(3.08±1.18)、(2.81±1.23) mm respectively, the right were (4.29±2.93)、(2.90±1.29)、(2.89±1.20)、(2.57±1.21) mm respectively. There were no statistical difference between the left side and the right side.　Conclusions　The anatomical knowledge of the middle temporal vein is of crucial importance for  reconstructive scalp surgery in the temporal region.

Key words: Middle temporal vein, 　Temporal region, 　Applied anatomy