Tellioglu A Metin, Durum Y, Gok M, Karakas S, Polat A G, Karaman C Z
Adnan Menderes University School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy.
Folia Morphol (Warsz). 2018;77(1):99-104. doi: 10.5603/FM.a2017.0070. Epub 2017 Aug 23.
The foramen magnum provides a transition between fossa cranii posterior and canalis vertebralis. Medulla oblongata, arteria vertebralis and nervus accessorius spinal part pass through the foramen magnum. In this study, we aimed to make the morphometric measurements of the foramen magnum on computed tomography (CT) and to determine the feasibility of sex determination based on these measurements. Besides sex determination, from a clinical aspect, it is important to know the measurements of the foramen magnum in the normal population in terms of diseases characterised by displacement of the posterior fossa structures through foramen magnum to upper cervical spinal canal such as Chiari malformations and syringomyelia.
All the data for our study was obtained retrospectively from 100 patients (50 males, 50 females) who had a CT scan of the head and neck region in Adnan Menderes University Hospital, Department of Radiology. To examine the foramen magnum in each and every occipital bone, we measured the foramen magnum's anteroposterior diameter, transverse diameter, the area of the foramen magnum and its circumference.
We found that men have a higher average value than women in our study. According to Student's t-test results; in all measured parameters, there is significant difference between the genders (p < 0.05). When multivariate discriminant function test is performed for all four measurements, the discrimination rate is 64% for all women, 70% for all men and 67% for both genders.
As a result of our study, the metric data we obtained will be useful in cases where the skeletons' sex could not be determined by any other methods. We believe that, our study may be useful for other studies in determining of sex from foramen magnum. Our measurements could give some information of the normal ranges of the foramen magnum in normal population, so that this can contribute to the diagnosis process of some diseases by imaging. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 1: 99-104).
枕骨大孔是颅后窝与椎管之间的过渡区域。延髓、椎动脉和副神经脊髓部通过枕骨大孔。在本研究中，我们旨在对计算机断层扫描（CT）上的枕骨大孔进行形态测量，并确定基于这些测量结果进行性别判定的可行性。除性别判定外，从临床角度来看，了解正常人群中枕骨大孔的测量值对于诸如Chiari畸形和脊髓空洞症等以后颅窝结构通过枕骨大孔向颈上段椎管移位为特征的疾病而言非常重要。
我们研究的所有数据均回顾性地取自阿德南·门德雷斯大学医院放射科进行头颈部CT扫描的100例患者（50例男性，50例女性）。为检查每块枕骨中的枕骨大孔，我们测量了枕骨大孔的前后径、横径、枕骨大孔面积及其周长。
我们发现在本研究中男性的平均值高于女性。根据学生t检验结果；在所有测量参数中，性别之间存在显著差异（p < 0.05）。当对所有四项测量进行多变量判别函数测试时，所有女性的判别率为64%，所有男性的判别率为70%，男女两性的判别率为67%。
作为我们研究的结果，我们获得的测量数据将有助于在无法通过任何其他方法确定骨骼性别的情况下使用。我们认为，我们的研究对于其他从枕骨大孔确定性别的研究可能有用。我们的测量可以给出正常人群中枕骨大孔正常范围的一些信息，从而有助于通过影像学对某些疾病进行诊断。（《形态学杂志》2018年；77卷，第1期：99 - 104页）
