European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

THE FREQUENCY AND TOPOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SUTURAL BONES IN ADULT DRY SKULLS

Atoni D. Atoni*, Ugochukwu L. Tabowei, Daminola A. U. Francis , Anthony O. John, Warebi Oboro – Aye

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Sutural bones are accessory bones found within or near cranial sutures. They are mostly found in the Lambdoid suture and can be either one or more than one in the same suture. Aim: This study aims to examine the frequency and topographical distribution of sutural bones in dry cadaveric skulls. Materials and Methods: In this study, 34 adult human dry skulls were examined for the presence, number and locations of sutural bones. Result: Sutural bones were present in 55.9% (19) of the skull most of which are found in the lambdoid suture while 44.1% (15) of the skulls had no sutural bone. Two (5.9%) skulls presented single coronal sutural bones, 3(8.8%) skulls presented single sagittal sutural bones. Lambdoid suture was observed to be the common site for sutural bone with 5 (14.7%) skulls presenting single lambdoid sutural bone while 6(17.6%) skulls presented multiple lambdoid sutural bones. We also observed 3(8.8%) skulls with Inca bone. However, bregmatic, pteric and squamosal sutural bones were absent in all the dry skulls examined in this study. Conclusion: Knowledge of the incidence of sutural bones and their structural distribution as described in this study is essentially useful to the anatomists, radiologists and surgeons in their daily practice.

Keywords: Accessory bones, Inca, Lambdoid, Coronal, Distribution, Sagittal, knowledge.