Morphometric Analysis Of Pterion In Adult Human Dry Skull Of Gujarat Region

ABSTRACT

Background: Pterion is an area present on anterior part of floor of temporal fossa, formed by four bones frontal,parietal, squamous temporal and greater wing of sphenoid joined each other and form ‘H’ shaped suture. Thereare important neurovascular structure lies beneath the pterion. It is weakest area of skull, as the bones here arevery thin so it is more prone to fracture by traumatic blow over it or by indirect blow from top or back of head.Pterion is an important extracranial landmark for lateral or pterional approaches in various neurosurgicalprocedures.Objectives: The aim of this study was to observe various types of pterion and to determine exact location ofpterion from various bony landmarks like Frontozygomatic suture and zygomatic arch.Materials and methods: The present study was carried out on 326 adult human dry skulls collected from variousmedical colleges of Gujarat. The lateral side of skull was visually assessed for the various types of pterion as perMurphy’s classification. The measurements were carried out from center of pterion to superior edges of midpointzygomatic arch (PMPZ) and from center of pterion to posterolateral aspect of frontozygomatic suture (PFZS).Measurements were taken using a digital vernier caliper.Results: We found all four types of pterion in our study. The most common type of pterion is Sphenoparietal 523(80.21%), followed by Epipteric 71 (10.89%), Frontotemporal 34 (5.22%) and Stellate 24 (3.68%). The meandistance of PMPZ was 36.85 ± 3.61 mm and PFZS was 29.69 ± 3.91. The Mean & SD of PMPZ & PFZS on right sidewas little more as compared to left side.Conclusion: The knowledge of various types of the pterion and exact location of center of pterion from variousbony landmarks are important not only to anatomist but also important for neurosurgeon for pterional approachesin various neurovascular surgery, for radiologist to accurate interpretation of radiograph, CT & MRI of skull andfor anthropologist to racial comparison.