Morphology And Morphometric Study On Anatomical Variations Of Jugular Foramen In Adult Human Skulls

ABSTRACT

Background: Jugular foramen, a large irregular foramen at the base of the skull , lies at the posterior end of petrooccipital suture between jugular process of occipital bone and jugular fossa of petrous part of temporal bone;above and lateral to foramen magnum. Many important structures pass through this foramen. Among these areInferior Petrosal Sinus, presence of three cranial nerves 9, 10, and 11 and Internal Jugular vein.The increasinguse of modern diagnostic procedures and new surgical approaches has created a need for much more detailedanatomical studies and explanations.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in Osteology lab of Anatomy Department,KarpagaVinayagaInstitute of Medical Sciences, Chinnakolambakkam,Madurntakam taluk,Tamilnadu (India). 66 jugular foraminaof 33 Adult human skulls have been examined for study.Results and Conclusion: The morphometric and morphological analysis of jugular foramen were done in 33skulls, and the results obtained are mentioned below. The Mean average width of foramen is 15.26mm and theRange is between 10mm and 21mm. The Mean average length of foramen is 10mm and the Range is between 6mmand 14mm.Regarding, the size of the foramina; the Right side is larger than the Left side. Incomplete Intrajugularprocess is the commonest observation observed (in 64 foramina).Regarding,Intra Jugular Process contributionfor foramen, it is mainly from Temporal bone. Separate foramen for IPS was found only in one foramen out of 66foramina observed.The height of dome of jugular fossa is more on the Right than on the Left side (in 60.6% ofskulls).The range of Height of the Dome is 6.41mm to 18.46mm and the Mean average is 12.11mm.