skull (cranium)
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Structure
In adults, the skull is a rigid structure of 6 paired & 6 unpaired bones.
intracranial volume: 1400-1700 mL
intracranial contents:
- brain parenchyma 80%
- including the brain (cerebrum & cerebellum), the brainstem
- cranial nerves
- cerebrospinal fluid 10%
- blood 10%
- associated arteries & veins
Paired bones:
Unpaired bones:
- skull is thickened at the
- skull vault is composed of cancellous bone (diploe) sandwiched between the lamina externa (1.5 mm), & the lamina interna (0.5 mm)
- diploe does not form where the skull is covered with muscles leaving the vault thin & prone to skull fracture.
More general terms
More specific terms
- arcuate eminence
- carotid groove; cavernous groove; carotid sulcus; cavernous sulcus
- epicranium
- incisive/incisor/Stensen foramen
- inferior articular facet of atlas; inferior articular (pit/surface) of atlas
- internal occipital protuberance
- lambda
- lateral mass of atlas
- nasal spine of frontal bone
- parietal eminence/tubercle
- parietal foramen
- posterior nasal spine of horizontal plate of palatine bone (posterior palatine spine)
- skull at birth
- skull in childhood
- skull in infancy
- sutural bone
Additional terms
- anterior cranial fossa
- middle cranial fossa
- posterior cranial fossa (cerebellar fossa)
- skull fracture (cranial fracture)
Component of
Components
- fontanelle
- diploic vein (Breschet vein, Dupuytren canal)
- pyramidal process of the palatine bone
- alveolar foramina of maxilla
- postglenoid foramen
- sphenopalatine foramen
- suprameatal spine (Henle spine)
- pterygomaxillary fissure
- vomer
- nasal bone
- lacrimal bone
- palatine bone
- zygomatic bone; zygoma; malar bone
- temporal bone
- sphenoid bone
- parietal bone
- occipital bone
- frontal bone
- ethmoid bone
References
- ↑ Stedman's Medical Dictionary 27th ed, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1999