Variations in the Structure of the Jugular Foramen of Human Skull

Abstract

Context: The jugular foramen is one of the most fascinating foramen present at the base of the skull attracting the imagination of many Anatomists worldwide as many important structures pass through it, and amongst them the intriguing structure is the internal jugular vein. The shape and size of the jugular foramen is related to the size of the internal jugular vein and the presence or absence of a prominent superior bulb. As most of the textbooks of Anatomy describe that the right jugular foramen is usually larger than the left jugular foramen. Henceforth the present study was undertaken in 55 skulls from the dept. of Anatomy. Measurements were taken with the help of sliding vernier caliper. Study type: Cross-sectional descriptive type. Place and period of study: Department of Anatomy, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi and Pabna Medical College, Pabna from April 2010 to June 2011. Materials and Methods: Total fifty five (55) human adult skulls were collected from the Anatomy department of Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi and Pabna Medical College, Pabna at different times of the study period. The study was conducted to observe variations in the structure of the jugular foramen of the human’s skull. Result: Out of 55 skulls (110 foramina) studied, the presence of dome indicating the presence of jugular bulb was found bilaterally in 100% of cases. 58.18% of cases showed that the size of right foramina were larger than the left foramina whereas 20% of cases showed that right foramina were equal to the left and in 21.82% of cases the left foramina were larger than the right side foramina. An important observation in the present study was the presence of either complete or partial septation in the jugular foramen. Conclusion: The findings of the study reveals that there are some differences among some parameters. The variations are might be due to the geographical variations of the skeletons. It needs further study with larger sample size from different geographical areas of Bangladesh. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bja.v10i2.17281 Bangladesh Journal of Anatomy, July 2012, Vol. 10 No. 2 pp 45-49

The relationship between jugular foramen asymmetry and superior sagittal venous sinus laterality

“…Our results of 60% larger JF on the right side compare favourably with previous recordings of 58.2% (Hossain et al, 2012), 58.6% (Adams et al, 1997), and 64.8% (Hussain Saheb et al, 2010) in Indian, unknown, and Indian skull populations, respectively. Previous findings relating to equal size of JF are also similar to our overall population findings of 17.5%, with congruence between our results and reports of 10.4% (Hussain Saheb et al, 2010), 10.7% (Adams et al, 1997), and 20% (Hossain et al, 2012). However, when we assessed our two populations separately we found a significant variation between the two study groups, with Otago skulls having 5.7% equal JF size and Coimbra 34%.…”

“…It is generally accepted that JF size is mostly asymmetrical, with the right JF larger in two-thirds of cases (Figure 1) (Navsa and Kramer, 1998;Hussain Saheb et al, 2010;Hossain et al, 2012); however, the reason for this asymmetry is unclear (Wysocki et al, 2006). Complete absence of the foramen on either side is not reported although a complete unilateral absence of sigmoid sinus with a large inferior petrosal sinus has been previously described (Laff, 1930).…”

Quantitative analysis of the vascular and neural compartments of the jugular foramen in dry skulls

“…reason that triggers this difference in its area is the technique used in the measurements, such as Radinsky formula, Teixeria formula, or automatic field setting of software (27). As shown in Table VI, there are plenty of numerical data on the total size of JF in the literature (1)(2)(3)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). However, existing inventory placed on the quantitative analysis of the size of VC and NC appears to be limited (9).…”

“…the JF may be associated with tumors (e.g., paragangliomas, meningiomas, and neural sheath tumors) (26), and congenital malformations (e.g., Crouzon, Apert, and Muenke syndromes) (7,10), its size is increasingly being considered as an important area of research interest (1)(2)(3)8,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). Furthermore, dimensional differences of JF, such as the length, width, and area, are also examined in terms of demographic data such as gender, side, race, and region (1)(2)(3)12,19,27).…”

“…Although there are plenty of numerical data on the size of JF in the literature (1)(2)(3)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), the existing inventory conducted on the morphometric assessment of the dimension of VC and NC, including their areas, lengths, and widths, appears to be limited (9). Therefore, the primary aim of the present study was to examine the size of VC and NC both exocranially and endocranially.…”