Abstract:
BACKGROUND፡ A trauma to the skull in the area of the pterion
usually causes rupture of the middle meningeal artery leading to
life- threatening epidural hematoma. The objective of the study is
to assess the prevalence of different types of pterion and to
determine its location using valuable bony landmarks.
METHODS: On 90 dry adult human skulls of unknown sex, age
and nationality the distance of different landmarks from pterion
was measured using stainless steel sliding Vernier caliper. The
data were analyzed using SPSS version-20 and an independent ttest analysis was implemented. A value of P< 0.05 was considered
as statistically significant.
Results: A higher occurrence of sphenoparietal type of pterion
with the absence of frontotemporal type was noted. About 23%
and 77% of the suture types are found to be unilateral and
bilateral, respectively. There was a statistically significant
difference between right and left sides of the skull in distances
from the center of pterion to frontozygomatic suture, root of
zygomatic arch, inion and in central thickness pterion.
CONCLUSION: This study showed that the most prevalent type
of pterion is sphenoparietal, and revealed asymmetry in the
distances from center of pterion to frontozygomatic suture, root of
zygomatic arch and inion, and its central thickness. Such findings
could offer worthy information about the type and location of
pterion, which could be relevant to anatomists, neurosurgeons,
forensic medicine specialist and anthropologists.
