Vol 70, No 4 (2011)
Original article
Published online: 2011-11-25
Unusual presence of Wormian (sutural) bones in human skulls
Folia Morphol 2011;70(4):291-294.
Abstract
Wormian bones are a subset of the small intrasutural bones that lie between
the cranial sutures formed by the bones of the skull vault. They are formed due
to additional ossification centres in or near sutures. They are usually considered
as normal variants and seem to be determined genetically in certain populations.
They have been linked with rapid cranial expansion as they appear in
great number in hydrocephalic skulls. They are commonly found in the lambdoid
suture and fontanelles but are occasionally seen in other sutures especially
the coronal, squamosal, and sagittal sutures. We examined 25 dried human
skulls with the aim to find out the occurrence and variations of Wormian bones,
and surprisingly we found Wormian bones in the coronal, squamosal, and sagittal
sutures in 6 skulls. These are uncommon sites of occurrence of sutural
bones as reported in the literature. These findings prompted us to report these
cases as their presence can lead to confusion in diagnosis in cases of skull
fractures. (Folia Morphol 2011; 70, 4: 291–294)
Keywords: skullWormian bonessuturecoronalsagittalsquamosal
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