Anatomic Analysis of the Internal and External Aspects of the Pterion.

OBJECTIVE

The pterion is an H-shaped suture complex. This study's goal was to determine the location of its external and internal surfaces and extension and emphasize and discuss its surgical importance.

METHODS

Fifty dried adult human skulls were obtained from the Department of Anatomy. A 2-mm drill bit was placed externally over the pterion, and the pterion was drilled through the bone perpendicular to the skull's surface.

RESULTS

The midpoint of the H shape in the pterion area was not at the same level on the skull's external and internal pterion surfaces. According to these measurements, the external pterion lay above the internal pterion when the skull was viewed externally. Furthermore, the internal pterion was on average longer than the external pterion. The internal and external pterions were schematized such that the skull was viewed from the outside. These areas were divided into 4 quadrants (anterior-superior, anterior-inferior, posterior-superior, and posterior-inferior) by a vertical and horizontal line. In 30 cases (60%), sulci of the middle meningeal artery's parietal branches entered the posterior-superior quadrant on the bone, whereas the artery's frontal branches were located in the anterior-superior and anterior-inferior quadrants, and the Sylvian fissure's origin was in the posterior-inferior quadrant.

CONCLUSIONS

By using a subdivision into 4 quadrants, and considering our anatomic findings, we determined the way surgical procedures can be performed more easily and reliably. Even with modern localization technologies, anatomic landmarks can be useful to the neurosurgeon.