Morphometric and Topographic Assessment of Foramen Ovale in Skulls of Jharkhand Population

ABSTRACT

Foramen ovale, situated in the greater wing of sphenoid, posterolateral to the foramen rotundum, transmits the sensory and motor root of mandibular nerve, accessory meningeal artery, emissary vein and lesser petrosal nerve to the infratemporal fossa. The normal shape of the foramen is oval, but its shape and size is quite variable. It plays an important role in the diagnostic and surgical procedures related to the middle cranial fossa. So, knowledge of the variations, dimensions and the topographic location is of importance to the neurosurgeons while dealing with surgeries in this region. Our study aims at finding the morphological variations in shape, dimensions of foramen ovale and its location in relation to the zygomatic arch.METHODSA cross-sectional observational study was carried out over a period of one year from 1/6/2018 to 31/5/2019, on 46 adult human skulls, taken from the department of Anatomy, RIMS, Ranchi. Fully dried, intact, adult human skulls were included in the study. Foramen ovale was observed for variation in shape, size and location. The presence of any accessory bony structure like bony plate, spine or septa was looked for and prevalence noted. The maximum antero-posterior length and width of foramen ovale and its distance from articular tubercle and the anterior root of zygomatic arch were measured using Vernier callipers. Pathologically malformed and damaged skulls were excluded from the study.RESULTSFour types of shapes were observed – oval (76.08%) , almond (5.43%) , semilunar (8.69%) and triangular (9.78%). The mean anteroposterior dimension of foramen ovale was 6.96 ± 1.17 mm (6.89 ± 1.28 mm on the right side & 7.02 ± 1.05 mm on the left side) and the mean transverse dimension was 3.35 ± 0.66 mm (3.25 ± 0.57 mm on the right side, 3.45 ± 0.73 mm on the left side) . The mean distance of foramen ovale from articular tubercle on zygomatic arch was 32.58 ± 1.29 mm (32.41 ± 1.10 mm on the right side, 32.74 ± 1.45 mm on the left side) and from anterior root of zygomatic arch was 24.75 ± 1.70 (23.91 ± 0.85 mm on the right side, 25.59 ± 1.92 mm on the left side).CONCLUSIONSThere is no significant average difference between FO_AP_RT – FO_AP_LT. There is no significant average difference between FO Width_RT - FO_Width_LT. There is a significant average difference between FO to Art. Tubercle Right - FO to Art Tubercle left. There is a significant average difference FO to ant. root Right - FO to ant. root left.