Morphological analysis of pterion

Abstract

Pterion is a topographical point on the side of skull where the sutures connecting frontal, parietal, sphenoidal and temporal bone meet. The study's aim was to establish the type and localisation of pterion in the observed population and find if there is a statistically significant difference between the positions of the pterion on the skulls, compared to gender. The study was performed on the skulls of 30 adult individuals without significant pathological changes. The type of pterion on both sides of each skull was determined. The distance between the center of the pterion and defined bony landmarks were measured using the ImageJ software. The dominant type of pterion is sphenoparietal (92.31% in the male and 94.44% of the female skulls). The second type of representation is epipteric (7.69% in the male and 5.55% of the female skulls). It was noted that there are differences of distance between the center pterion and specific topographic points in relation to the page and a half, however, these differences were not statistically significant distances. The shape and the localization of pterion are of importance because it is an anatomic landmark and place of access to the cranial cavity and orbit in neurosurgery, maxillofacial and ophthalmic surgery.

Keywords

• Morphology
• Morphometry
• Human skull
• Pterion