CRANIUM

Mej Amm Batoon

MHAM College of Medicine
 Atthe end of week 3
 Ectoderm
 neuroectoderm  neural tube and neural
crest
 Epidermis  skin
 At about week 5
 neural crest migrates to target areas for
further specialization
 Lateral plate mesoderm
 Neural crest and lateral plate mesoderm
form pharyngeal arches and give rise to
bones of the jaw and lower face, the
viscerocranium
 Neural crest produce the bones of the
cranial vault (calvaria), part of the
neurocranium
 Regions
1. Neurocranium
 Brain case
 surrounds the
brain and
special sensory
organs (optic,
auditory, and
olfactory)
 Calvaria (cranial
vault
 Cranial base
 Regions
1. Viscerocranium
 Fascial skeleton
 ear ossicles
 hyoid bone
 laryngeal and
tracheal cartilages
 and certain
processes of the
skull
 Neurocranium
8 bones
 Frontal
 Ethmoidal
Single and centered
 Sphenoidal
 Occipital
 Temporal
Paired
 Parietal
 Viscerocranium
 15 irregular bones
 Mandible
 Ethmoid Single and lying in the midline
 Vomer
 Maxilla
 Inferiornasal concha
 Zygomatic
Bilateral pairs
 Palatine
 Nasal
 lacrimal
 Type of ossification
 Chondocranium/Endocranium
 Cranial base (part of neurocranium)
 Sphenoidal
 Occipital

 Endochondral ossification
 Dermatocranium
 Cranial vault (part of neurocranium)
 Frontal
 Temporal
 Parietal

 Bones of the face (part of viscerocranium)

 Intramembranous ossification
 Cranial base
 Basilarand lateral portions of the occipital
 Sphenoid
 Ethmoid
 Petrous and mastoid part of the temporal
bone
 Chondocranium embryology
5 weeks of development (7 weeks in other
sources)
 9 groups of paired cartilaginous precursors
1) 4 occipital condensations – lateral to future
brain stem
2) Parachordal cartilages – lateral to primitive
notochord
3) Otic capsule – lateral to parachordal
cartilages
4) Hypophyseal (polar) cartilages – surrounds
anterior pituitary gland
Chondocranium embryology
5) Orbitosphenoids (ala orbitalis/ lesser wing of
sphenoid) – lateral to hypophyseal cartilages
6) Alisphenoids (ala temporalis/greater wing of
sphenoid) – lateral to hypophyseal cartilages
7) Trabecular cartilages – form mesethmoid and
8) Nasal capsule cartilages
9) Hypochiasmatica – form presphenoid
together with parts of trabecular and
orbitosphenoid cartilages
 Chondocranium embryology
 Fusion of cartilages
 Basal plate from parachordal
Cartilaginouspart of occipital bone and basi-
sphenoid bone
 Auditory capsule with lateral sides of basal
plate
Petrous and mastoid portions of temporal bones
 Trabeculae cranii embrace hypophysis cerebri
(pituitary gland)
Posterior end unite with basilar plate
Anterior end joins to form ethmoidal plate, which
extends between forebrain and olfactory pits
meet and fuse below the hypophysis, forming the
floor of the hypophyseal fossa
Median part of ethmoidal plate forms bony and
cartilaginous parts of nasal septum
3processes on lateral margins of
ethmoidal plate
Anterior  ethmoidal labyrinth and
lateral and alar cartilages of the nose
Middle  small wing of sphenoid
Posterior  great wing and lateral
pterygoid plate of sphenoid
 At 8 weeks of development
 Floor and walls still incomplete
 No cranial roof
 9 weeks of development
 Appearance of centers of endochondral
ossification
 Endocranium/Basicranium
 Ossification
centers
 Synchondrosis
 Cartilaginous joining of bone
 Site of growth and activity in the cranial base
during early childhood
 Spheno-occipital synchondrosis
Major site of lengthwise growth of the base of the
skull
 Ossification centers
1. Occipital centers
 Basioccipital bone
 Underlying the hindbrain, ventral to the foramen
magnum
 Supraoccipital bone
 Above the foramen magnum
 Exoccipital bones (2)
 Lateral to the foramen magnum
1. Otic centers
 Prootic
 Opisthotic
 Epiotic
 Periotic or petrosal bone + squamosal 
temporal
1. Sphenoid centers
 Basisphenoid
 Underlying the midbrain and pituitary gland
 Presphenoid
 Lateral sphenoid elements
 Orbitosphenoid
 Alisphenoid
1. Ethmoid centers
 Mesethmoid
 Nasal septum
 Turbinal bones or conchea
 Scroll-like bones on nasal wall
 Cribiform plate
 With foramina that transmit nerves from olfactory
epithelium to brain
 Cranial Vault
 Frontals
 Parietals
 Occipital(upper part)
 Temporal bones (squamæ and tympanic
parts)
 Medial pterygoid plates
 Dermatocranium
 membranous ossification
 Separated by fibrous sutures
 Some distinct throughout life
 e.g. parietal and frontal
 Somejoin with the bones of
chondocranium
 e.g.
Interparietal, squamæ of temporals, and
medial pterygoid plates
 Fontanelles or ‘soft spots’
 Large membranous areas from sutures
 permit the skull to undergo changes of shape,
called molding, during parturition
 allow for rapid growth of the brain during
infancy
 Complete ossification normally occurs by
twenty to twenty-four months of age
 Six fontanelles form:
 anterior (frontal) fontanel,
 most prominent, a diamond-shaped area on the
anteromedian portion of the skull in the coronal suture
 posterior (occipital) fontanel,
 atthe back of the skull in the median line in the lambdoidal
suture
 paired anterolateral (sphenoidal) fontanels,
 one on either side of the skull directly below the anterior
fontanel
 paired posterolateral (mastoid) fontanels
 on the posterolateral sides of the skull between the
squamosal, parietal and occipital bones
 Cranial sutures
 coronal
 extends from the anterior fontanel to the anterolateral
fontanel (between the frontal and parietal bones)
 lambdoidal
 from the posterior fontanel to the posterolateral fontanel
(between the parietal and occipital bones)
 sagittal
 extends the anteroposterior median length of the skull
between the anterior and posterior fontanels (between the
two parietals);
 squamosal suture
 connects the posterolateral and anterolateral fontanels.
 Viscerocranium embryology
 4-10 weeks of development
 six pairs of cartilaginous rods (pharyngeal
arches) – arch 1 and 2
 Endochondral and intramembraneous
ossification
 Cartilaginous Viscerocranium
 1st & 2nd pharyngeal cartilages
 mesenchyme of the first pharyngeal (mandibular)
 short maxillary process – malleus and incus
 long mandibular process – Meckel’s cartilage, the
ventral end of which participates in forming the
mandible. The body of the mandible develops by
intramembranous ossification lateral to Meckel’s
cartilage.
 mesenchymal core of the 2nd pharyngeal (hyoid) arch
 Stapes
 Styloid process
 Lesser horn and upper body of the hyoid bone
 ventral portion of 3rd pharyngeal cartilage
 Greater horn and lower body of the hyoid
 mesenchymal core of 4th, 5th, and 6th
pharyngeal arches
 fuses into the laryngeal cartilages
Epiglottic,thyroid and cuneiform from 4th (5th)
Cricoid, arytenoid and corniculate cartilages from
6th
Membranous Viscerocranium
 form lateral to the cartilages of the first
pharyngeal arch and in its maxillary and
mandibular processes.
 Four dermal ossifications in the maxillary
process of the 1st pharyngeal arch
 Premaxilla
 Maxilla
 Zygoma
 Squamous temporal
 The palatine, vomer, and pterygoid lamina
develop from dermal ossification around the
maxillary process
 Mesenchyme of the mandibular process condenses
around the outer side of the first arch to form two
membrane bones
 Mandible
 tympanic plate (that will later fuse with the squamous temporal
bone and otic capsule).
 The vomer develops from two ossification centers that
flank the lower border of the perpendicular ethmoidal
plate.
 The nasal, lacrimal and inferior nasal concha bones
develop from single centers of intramembranous
ossification in close association with the nasal capsule.
 References:
 http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/m
 Gray, Henry. 1918. Anatomy of the
Human Body
 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/craniofacial/L
 http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Notes
/week3_6.htm