A to Z Entries
Clare E. Milner in Functional Anatomy for Sport and Exercise, 2019
The bones of the head and neck comprise the bones of the skull and the seven vertebrae of the cervical spine. The bones of the skull, which are fused in the adult, are the cranium – the large dome that houses and protects the brain – and the bones of the face (Figure 11). The skull is made up of 8 cranial and 14 facial bones. All of these, except the mandible (jawbone), are attached rigidly to each other by interlaced articulations called sutures. The bones of the skull are not fully fused at the sutures until old age and do not begin to close until about age 22 years, with the process being mostly complete by age 30. This should be taken into consideration when younger athletes suffer a traumatic injury to the head, since the skull serves to protect the delicate tissues of the brain. Damage to the bones of the skull tends to be due to acute trauma from contact with another athlete, equipment, or the ground.
Skeletal System
David Sturgeon in Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology for Healthcare Students, 2018
By adulthood, all 22 bones of the skull have fused together and the fibrous joints between the bony plates (cranial sutures) can be seen on X-ray as thin lines. In total, the skull consists of 8 cranial bones (4 each side) and 14 facial bones (Figure 4.3). The names of the cranial bones (frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal bones) correspond to the lobes of the brain (cerebrum) that are located beneath them (see Chapter 12). There is a large hole at the base of the skull (occipital bone) called the foramen magnum (Latin: great hole) that allows the brainstem to attach to the spinal cord below. There are also a number of smaller foramens (holes) in the skull and facial bones that allow access for blood vessels and nerves (including the optic nerves to the eye and the mental nerves of the jaw). Finally, the skull contains a number of air-filled cavities around the nose called sinuses. These reduce weight at the front of the skull, provide a buffer against facial trauma and increase the resonance of the voice amongst other things. They are also connected to the nasal cavity by small openings or pores called ostia which are easily blocked when the lining of the sinus becomes inflamed (sinusitis). When this occurs, fluid can accumulate in the sinus which causes the unpleasant sensation of nasal congestion and can affect the timbre and resonance of the voice.
Nasal and Facial Fractures
John C Watkinson, Raymond W Clarke, Louise Jayne Clark, Adam J Donne, R James A England, Hisham M Mehanna, Gerald William McGarry, Sean Carrie in Basic Sciences Endocrine Surgery Rhinology, 2018
Injuries to the face are common and account for 10% of all accident and emergency department attendances. Aesthetically, first impressions of a person in terms of their intellect, ability, trustworthiness and even sexual orientation are influenced by facial appearance. Functionally the facial skeleton provides support to the muscles of facial expression and these in turn act as the sphincter that protects the eyes and make the mouth competent. The facial skeleton holds and supports the eyes in the optimum position for binocular vision and the orbital margins provide additional protection for the globes. Historically the success of facial fracture management was judged entirely on the final dental occlusion. While it is important to ensure that a normal bite is achieved, it is just one of the criteria that define today’s standard of care. Equally important is the restoration of both the vertical and transverse facial dimensions. This can be achieved by extended craniofacial bone exposure and the use of rigid and semi-rigid internal fixation. In addition, meticulous attention to the repair of soft tissues injuries ensures the best possible cosmetic result.
Secular trends in cranial chord variables: a study of changes in sexual dimorphism of the North Indian population during 1954–2011
Published in Annals of Human Biology, 2019
Among skull elements, facial bones are the first to be destroyed, while the neurocranium (skull cap or vault) is usually recovered in good condition. In forensic anthropology several studies have been conducted on the foramen magnum (Uysal et al. 2005; Gapert et al. 2009; Ukoha et al. 2011), nasal (Joy et al. 2009; Oladipo et al. 2009) and orbital regions (Lidstone 2011; Jain et al. 2015) of the human skull. In spite of providing low classification accuracies regardless of the population, these anatomical regions are investigated abundantly in forensic anthropological studies. However, researchers have not given much consideration to the usefulness of chord measurements of the neurocranium (cranial vault) in sex classification, even though the chord variables are frequently examined to understand cranial abnormalities such as metopism in various populations (Bryce and Young 1917; Woo 1949; Baaten et al. 2003; Yadav et al. 2010) and Hominin evolution (Trinkaus 1984; Lieberman et al. 2002; Kimbel et al. 2004; Reynolds and Gallagher 2012).
Brachytherapy and osteoradionecrosis in patients with base of tongue cancer
Published in Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 2023
Daniel Danielsson, Eva Hagel, Sebastian Dybeck-Udd, Mats Sjöström, Göran Kjeller, Martin Bengtsson, Jahan Abtahi, Mathias von Beckerath, Andreas Thor, Martin Halle, Signe Friesland, Claes Mercke, Anders Westermark, Anders Högmo, Eva Munck-Wikland
Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is defined as necrotic bone exposed through a wound in the overlying skin or mucosa, without evidence of tumor recurrence, with a duration of at least six months. ORN affects 3–15% of all patients who undergo radiotherapy (RT) due to head and neck cancer diagnoses [5–7] and can develop into a severe and disabling condition. The most common site in the facial skeleton is in the mandibular bone and the symptoms include pain, trismus, masticatory problems, dysphagia, orocutaneous fistula and fractures. There have been many different classification systems for grading ORN [7] and in November 2017 The US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute published Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Version 5.0 where osteonecrosis of the jaw is graded from 1–5 [8].
Mild traumatic brain injury: evaluation of olfactory dysfunction and clinical–neurological characteristics
Published in Brain Injury, 2018
Andrea Ciofalo, Marco De Vincentiis, Giannicola Iannella, Giampietro Zambetti, Paola Giacomello, Giancarlo Altissimi, Antonio Greco, Massimo Fusconi, Benedetta Pasquariello, Giuseppe Magliulo
Finally, the post-traumatic CT scan and MRI were analysed in terms of the presence or absence of edematous and haemorrhagic events (frontal, temporal-parietal, occipital). Fractures of the facial bones were also investigated. Both these instrumental examination were performed in the Emergency Department after patients had been hospitalised for cranial trauma. CT scan was a 32-slice computed tomography systems, with acquisition of images at a thickness between 0.5 mm and 1 mm without contrast medium. 3D image reconstruction was not performed. MRI was done using a 3 Tesla with T1 and T2 weighted reconstructed images. A standardized protocol for image acquisition, applied in case of cranial trauma, was employed.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Inferior Nasal Concha
- Lacrimal Bone
- Mandible
- Maxilla
- Palatine Bone
- Skull
- Neurocranium
- Dermatocranium
- Face
- Nasal Bone