Regional thickness of parietal bone in Korean adults.

To clarify the clinical utility of the parietal bone graft in maxillofacial reconstruction, we performed an anatomical study by measuring the regional thickness of the parietal bone in 47 Korean adult dry skulls. Before sectioning of the calvaria, the appropriate anatomical landmarks were marked on each specimen. We measured the total thickness of the parietal bone, and the thickness of the outer and inner cortical plates at various points in each section of parietal bones using a digital caliper under the stereomicroscope. The total thickness of the parietal bone ranged from 5.04mm to 7.17mm, and there was no statistical difference in the total thickness of the parietal bone on the same points bilaterally. The parietal bone tended to be thicker toward the lambda point than at the coronal suture area. On the other hand, the outer plate of parietal bone was thickest at the point nearest to the coronal suture, and the inner plate proved thickest at the posteromedial area. In conclusion, this study showed that the better donor site of the parietal bone for maxillofacial reconstruction is located at its more posterior and medial area.