ANATOMICAL VARIATIONS OF THE PARIETAL FORAMEN AND ITS RELATIONS TO THE CALVARIAL LANDMARKS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL CADAVERIC STUDY

Abstract

The aim: Estimate the prevalence of the parietal foramen in the adult human skulls of Ukrainian origin, and study its morphology and relationships to main anatomical landmarks of the skull. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional observational study of PF was conducted with 42 random cadaveric adult human skull roofs (calvaria) collected from the laboratory and museum of Human Anatomy Department, Kharkiv National Medical University, Ukraine. The patency and the length of the PF canal were determined, and PF external/internal diameters and the distance to the calvarial landmarks from PF were measured using the caliper. Mean and standard deviation were calculated to compare with the existing data. Results: In the present study 85.7% (n = 36) of the calvaria had the PF, 54.8% (n = 23) had bilateral location of PF, 30.9% (n = 13) had unilateral presence of PF (right side: 23.8%, n=10 and left side: 7.1%, n=3), and 14.3 % (n = 6) demonstrated bilateral absence of PF. Conclusions: An anatomical variation in parietal foramen is not uncommon, and the differences can be based on multiple factors like geography and race. It is important to have detailed information on anatomical variations in different population groups to facilitate surgical and radiological interventions.