Morphometric Study Of Dry Human Occipital Bone And Its Clinical Relevance

ABSTRACT

Background: Anomalies of craniovertebral junction (CVJ) are of interest both to an anatomist as well as to theclinicians because many of these deformities produce clinical symptoms. The stability of this CVJ dependslargely on the morphometric parameters of the occipital condyles (OCs). Most of the surgical approaches suchas, the lateral trans-jugular approach, trans-tubercular approach and transcondylar approach require resectionof the condyles.Materials and methods: The measurements of 30 occipital condyle length, width, height, Size and the anteriorand posterior intercondylar distances, Distance between the anterior tip of OC & Basion, Distance between theposterior tip of OC & Opisthion, Anterior intercondylar distance (AID), Posterior intercondylar distance (PID),non-metric parameters including Shape was done.Results: Mean length, width and height of the occipital condyle were found to be 23.2, 12.39 and 9.16 mm on theright and 23.43, 12.31 and 8.95 mm on the left respectively. The anterior and posterior intercondylar distanceswere 21.28 and 40.61 mm respectively.Conclusion: The occipital condyles are integral part of neck and base of the skull. In the present study an effortwas made to measure various parameters related to occipital condyle. The data may be used as a morphometricdata base for posterior and lateral approaches to the craniovertebral junction by neurosurgeons andorthopaedicians