Bony canal and grooves of the middle meningeal artery: mythic structures in anatomy and neurosurgery?
Language English Country Poland Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article
PubMed
31584180
DOI
10.5603/fm.a2019.0098
PII: VM/OJS/J/64719
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Terminologia Anatomica, anatomical terminology, middle meningeal artery, skull base,
- MeSH
- Meningeal Arteries * diagnostic imaging MeSH
- Sphenoid Bone diagnostic imaging MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Neurosurgery * MeSH
- Orbit MeSH
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
BACKGROUND: It has been previously published that the frontal branch of the middle meningeal artery (MMA) is usually embedded in a bony canal (BC). Although the incidence of the BC was over 70%, this structure is currently omitted both in anatomical nomenclature and in most of the literature. We found the same gap pertaining to the grooves for the MMA on the skull base. The aims of our study were to assess the incidence and morphometry of the MMA BC and grooves on the skull base. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Computed tomography (CT) scans of 378 patients, 172 skull bases as well as 120 sphenoidal bones and 168 temporal bones, and 12 histological specimens from 3 men and 3 women and 3 different regions of the MMA course were assessed. RESULTS: Based on CT scans, the incidence of the BC was 85.44% and was significantly higher in females than in males. Most of the canals and grooves were bilateral. The mean canal length was 17.67 mm, the mean transverse diameter 1.33 mm, and the mean distance from the superior orbital fissure (dFOS) was 26.7 mm. In the skull bases, the BC incidence was 70.07%, the mean canal length 10.74 mm, and the mean dFOS was 19.16 mm. The groove for the MMA on the temporal and sphenoidal bones was present in 99.42% and 95.35%, respectively. Histological specimens confirmed the presence of the MMA and accompanying vein/s. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, we suggest the addition of the BC and grooves for the middle meningeal vessels to the upcoming version of the Terminologia Anatomica.
Biomedical Centre Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen Charles University Pilsen Czech Republic
Department of Anatomy 2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic
Department of Imaging Methods University Hospital in Pilsen Czech Republic
Department of Neurosurgery University Hospital in Pilsen Czech Republic
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