Osteology Flashcards
What is a suture?
A fibrous joint
Which bones of the skull are pneumatised?
Frontal, temporal, sphenoid and ethmoid, maxilla
What is the purpose of sinuses?
Reduce weight of the skull
Provide resonance space for our voice
What is the neurocranium?
Bony case of the brain including cranial meninges with a domelike roof and a floor
What is the viscerocranium?
Anterior part of the cranium that consists of bones surrounding the oral cavity, nasal cavity and most of the orbit
What is the vertex?
The superior point of the neurocranium
What is the Frankfort horizontal plane?
The anatomical position of the skull where a horizontal line can be drawn between the superior margin of the external acoustic meatus and the inferior margin of the orbit
Where is bregma located?
Junction between sagittal and coronal sutures
What is lambda?
Where the sagittal and lambdoid sutures join
What is the inion?
The most prominent part of the external occipital protuberance
What is the asterion?
Star-shaped junction of three sutures between occipital, parietal and temporal bones
What is the nasion?
Where the frontonasal and internasal sutures meet
What is the glabella?
The smooth part of the frontal bone superior to the root of the nose and between the superciliary arches above the brows
What is the pterion?
H-shaped junction of sutures between frontal, temporal, greater wing of sphenoid and parietal
What is the clinical significance of the pterion in terms of a skull fracture?
The pterion is a thin area of the skull which overlies the middle meningeal artery - trauma can lead to extradural haematoma which can exert pressure on the brain.
What is a Wormian bone?
Small island of bone within a cranial suture.
Which cranial nerves pass through the jugular foramen?
CN IX, X, XI
What does foramen magnum transmit?
The spinal cord, meninges, vertebral and spinal arteries, and the spinal root of accessory nerve (CN VI)
What passes through the foramen spinosum?
Middle meningeal artery and vein and meningeal branch of CNV3
What are the choanae?
The posterior nasal apertures
How many vertebrae make up the cervical spine?
7
What is the role of the ligamentum nuchae?
Attaches external occipital protuberance and foramen magnum to spinal processes of the cervical vertebrae.
Supports the head and resists flexion.
Is an attachment point for muscles.
Which cervical vertebrae are atypical?
C1 (atlas), C2 (axis), C7 (vertebrae prominens)
Describe the spinous process of C7
Non-bifid
What passes through the foramen transversarium of C1-C6?
Vertebral artery
Describe the movements that the lateral atlanto-axial joint permits
Rotation of head (side to side)
Describe the movements that the atlanto-occipital joint permits
Flexion and extension (nodding)
What level of the neck is the hyoid bone found at?
C3
