IJAR.2017.139

Type of Article:  Original Research

Volume 5; Issue 2.1 (April 2017)

Page No.: 3682-3686

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.16965/ijar.2017.139

MORPHOMETRIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF FORAMEN MAGNUM IN DRIED HUMAN SKULL BONES

Sampada P K 1, Poornima B *2, Mallikarjun M 3, Santosh B Sakri 4.

*1,2 Assistant professor, Department of Anatomy, Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari, Karnataka, India.

3 Professor and HOD, Department of Anatomy, Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari, Karnataka, India.

4 Professor, Department of public health Dentistry, SAIDS, Calicut, Kerala, India.

Address for the Correspondence:  Dr. Poornima B, Assistant professor, Department of Anatomy, Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari, Karnataka, India. E-Mail: pnima73@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Background: The foramen magnum is the large opening located in the occipital bone of skull. The morphometric evaluation of foramen magnum is clinically interesting because of its relation with its contents. The vital structures passing through it may endure compression such as in cases of foramen magnum herniation, foramen magnum meningiomas and foramen magnum achondroplasia. The knowledge of foramen magnum diameters is needed to determine some malformations such as Arnold Chiari syndrome, which shows expansion of transverse diameter.

Objective: To measure the anteroposterior diameter, transverse diameter and to calculate the  area of foramen magnum. The shape of the foramen was noted and were classified as oval, round, egg, tetragonal, pentagonal, hexagonal, irregular.

Materials and Methods: Completely ossified 100 dried human skull bones of unknown age and gender were taken from the Department of Anatomy, V.I.M.S., Ballari, Karnataka, India.

Results: The mean antero-posterior diameter was 34.84±2.32mm. The mean transverse diameter was 29.39±1.73mm. The mean area of foramen magnum was 803.8±83.42mm2. The foramen magnum shapes were determined as an Oval 58%, Round 9(9%), Egg 11(11%), Tetragonal 8(8%), Pentagonal 1(1%), Hexagonal(3%), irregular(10%).

Conclusion: This study will be useful for the anatomist, neurosurgeon, radiologist and orthopaedic surgeon.

KEYWORDS: Foramen Magnum, Occipital Bone, Herniations, Meningiomas, Achondroplasia.

ABSTRACT

Background: Lumber spinal canal stenosis is common spinal disorder in elderly patients causing low back pain. Ligamentum Flavum (LF) covers most of the postero-lateral part of spinal canal, hypertrophy of which considered an important causative factor in development of lumbar spinal canal stenosis which significantly contributes to low back pain and sciatica.

Materials and Methods: To measure the thickness of LF in in lumbar region at L1-L2, L2-L3, L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1 level on MRI a cross sectional MRI study of lumbar spine was carried out between the age group of 20-50 yrs in IPGMER and SSKM hospital, Kolkata. The study population comprised of two groups with a total 120 population of which first group comprised of patients with low back pain (LBP) (n=60), second group was control groups, persons without low back pain (n=60). T1 weighted magnetic resonance images of lumbar segments were taken and thickness of LF was measured on both right and left side in all lumbar segments.

Results: The mean thickness of LF in lumbar segment in LBP group was 3.47mm which was significantly thicker than control group measuring 2.63 mm.

Conclusion:  Patients with low back pain had significantly thicker LF in lumbar segments when compared to asymptomatic persons in both the sides which may be a contributing factor for LBP.

Key words: Ligamenta flava, Lumbar spine, Low back pain.

REFERENCES

  1. Ferreira, F. V.; Rosenberg, B. & da Luz, H. P. The Foramen Magnum index in brazilians. Fac. Odontol. SaoPaulo, 1967;5(4):297-302.
  2. Krogman WM, Iscan MY. Skeletal Age: Cranium, Skeletal Age: Post Cranium and Determination of Sex and Parturition. In: The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. 2nd ed. USA: Charles C Thomas Publishers, 1986:103-267.
  3. Luiz AS and Marco S. Sexing the human skull through the mastoid process. Rev. hosp. Clin. Fac. Med. S Paulo, 2003;58(1):15-20.
  4. Standring S, Gray’s Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical practice. 39th edition. Edinburg: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005;463-465.
  5. Hecht TJ, Horton WA, Reid CS, et al. Growth of the foramen magnum in achondroplasia. American Journal of Medical Genetics.1989;32:528-35.
  6. Reich JB, Sierra J, Camp W, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging measurements and clinical changes accompanying transtentorial and foramen magnum brain herniation. Annals of Neurology.1993;33:159-70.
  7. Ropper AH. MRI demonstration of the major features of herniation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry.1993;56:932-5.
  8. Muthukumar N, Swaminathan R, Venkatesh G, Bhanumathy SP: A morphometric analysis of the foramen magnum region as it relates to the transcondylar approach. Acta Neurochir (Wien.) 2005;147:889-895.
  9. Sgouros S, Goldin HJ, Hockely AD, Wake MJ, et al. Intracranial volume change in childhood. J Neurosurg; 1999;91:610-616.
  10. Murshed KA, Cicekcibasi AE, and Tuncer I. Morphometric Evaluation of the Foramen Magnum Variations in its Shape: A Study on Computerized Tomographic Images of Normal Adults. Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences.2003;33(1):301-306.
  11. Radinsky L. Relative brain size: anew measure. Science 1967;155:836-38.
  12. Nevell L,Wood B. Cranial base evolutionwithin the hominin clade. J Anat., 2008;212: 455-468.
  13. Roma Patel, C. D.Mehta. Morph metric study of Foramen Magnum at the base of human skull in South Gujarat. Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences. 2014;13(6):23-25.
  14. Deepak S. Howale, Anil Bathija, Sudarshan Gupta, D P Pandit. Correlation between cranial index and foramen magnum index in human dried skulls. GJRA. 2014;3(1):3-6.
  15. Osunwoke EA, Oladipo GS, Gwunireama IU, Ngaokere JO.Morphometric analysis of the foramen magnum and jugular foramen in adult skulls in southern Nigerian population. Am. J. Sci. Ind. Res., 2012;3(6):446-448.
  16. Muralidhar P Shepur, Magi M, Nanjundappa B, Pavan P Havaldar, Premalatha Gogi, Shaik Hussain Saheb.Morphometric analysis of foramen magnum. Int J Anat res., 2014;2(1):249-55.
  17. Divya Mahajan, Gaurav Agnihotri, Abha Sheth, Rahat Brar. An anatomical perspective of human occipital condyles and foramen magnum with neurosurgical correlates. International journal of clinical and experimental anatomy. 2013;6(7):29-33.
  18. Santhosh CS, Vishwanathan KG, Ashok Gupta, Siddesh RC, and Tejas J. Morphometry of the Foramen Magnum: An Important Tool in Sex Determination. Research and Reviews: Journal of Medical and Health Sciences. 2013;4(2):88-91.
  19. Anil Kumar, Mitesh Dave, Sanam Anwar. morphometric evaluation of foramen magnum in dry human skulls. Int J Anat Res 2015;3(2):1015-1023.
  20. Arthi Ganapathy, Sadeesh T., Sudha Rao. Morphometric analysis of foramen magnum in adult human skulls and ct images. Int J Cur Res Rev., 2014;6(20):11-15.
  21. Radhakrishna S, Shivarama C, Ramakrishna A, Bhagya B. Morphometric analysis of foramen magnum for sex determination in south Indian population. Nite university journal of health science. 2012;2(1):20-22.
  22. Rohinidevi M, Vimala V. Morphometric analysis of foramen magnum and variations in its shape in dried human adult skulls: an original article. Int J Anat Res 2016;4(3):2670-2673.
  23. Shika S, Anil Kumar S, Bhawani S M, Arshad M. Morphometric Evaluation of the Foramen Magnum and Variation in its Shape and Size: A Study on Human Dried Skull. International Journal of Anatomy and Research. 2015;3(3):1399-03.
  24. Chethan P, Prakash KG, Murlimanju BV, Prashant KU, Prabhu LV, Saralaya VV et.al Morphological Analysis and Morphometry of the Foramen Magnum: An Anatomical Investigation. Turkish Neurosurgery 2012;22(4):416-419.
  25. Ukoha U, Egwu O, Okafor I, Anyabolu A,Ndukwe G, Okpala I. Sexual Dimorphism in the Foramen Magnum of Nigerian Adult. Int JBiolMed Res., 2011;2(4): 878-881.
  26. Espinoza E, Ayala C, Ortega L, Collipal E, Silva H, Morfometría tomográfica delforamen magno y surelaciónconel sexo y la etnia mapuche. Rev. ANACEM(Impresa). 2011;5(1): 28-31.
  27. Govsa F, Ozer MA, Celik S, Ozmutaf NM. Three-Dimensional Anatomic Landmarks of the Foramen Magnum for the Craniovertebral Junction. The journal of Craniofacial Surgery. 2011;22(3):1073-1076.

Cite this article: Sampada P K, Poornima B, Mallikarjun M, Santosh B Sakri. MORPHOMETRIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF FORAMEN MAGNUM IN DRIED HUMAN SKULL BONES. Int J Anat Res 2017;5(2.1):3682-3686. DOI: 10.16965/ijar.2017.139