Alkhani Layth R, Qazi Yusef, Massoud Tarik F
Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA.
Computer Science, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Aug 10;17(8):e89766. doi: 10.7759/cureus.89766. eCollection 2025 Aug.
The palatine spines (PSs) form the margins of the palatal grooves (PGs) of the hard palate, which contain the greater palatine arteries and nerves. Except for one overly simplistic account in the early 1990s, there are no detailed descriptions and dimensions for the mucosa covering the PSs and grooves.
We retrospectively studied the normative morphometric features of PSs and their overlying mucosa in selected 69 patients using CT imaging. We statistically analyzed variables among the demographics, morphometrics, and several other spine characteristics, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.
Lengths of mucosal coverage for bilateral spines varied from 3.5 ± 0.9 mm to 3.7 ± 1.1 mm. There was a statistically significant sex difference for the right middle spine size, larger in men (p = 0.044). The right middle and left medial spine sizes were significantly correlated with their mucosal coverage (p = 0.003 and p = 0.021, respectively). There was also a positive correlation between the right medial spine mucosal coverage and patient age (p = 0.001).
Our detailed morphometrics will be useful for planning of procedures in the posterior hard palate, including anesthetic infiltration of the greater palatine nerve, and avoidance of neurovascular bundle damage during periodontal surgery or palatal orthodontic implant placement.
腭棘形成硬腭腭沟的边缘，腭沟内有腭大动脉和腭大神经。除了20世纪90年代初一篇过于简单的报道外，没有关于覆盖腭棘和腭沟的黏膜的详细描述及尺寸数据。
我们使用CT成像对69例选定患者的腭棘及其覆盖黏膜的标准形态学特征进行了回顾性研究。我们对人口统计学、形态学测量以及其他几个棘突特征之间的变量进行了统计分析，设定统计学显著性水平为p<0.05。
双侧棘突黏膜覆盖长度在3.5±0.9毫米至3.7±1.1毫米之间。右侧中间棘突大小存在统计学显著的性别差异，男性更大（p=0.044）。右侧中间棘突和左侧内侧棘突大小与其黏膜覆盖显著相关（分别为p=0.003和p=0.021）。右侧内侧棘突黏膜覆盖与患者年龄之间也存在正相关（p=0.001）。
我们详细的形态学测量结果将有助于硬腭后部手术的规划，包括腭大神经的麻醉浸润，以及在牙周手术或腭部正畸种植体植入期间避免神经血管束损伤。
