TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing age-related ossification of the petro-occipital fissure
T2 - Laying the foundation for understanding the clinicopathologies of the cranial base
AU - Balboni, Armand L.
AU - Estenson, Thomas L.
AU - Reidenberg, Joy S.
AU - Bergemann, Andrew D.
AU - Laitman, Jeffrey T.
PY - 2005/1
Y1 - 2005/1
N2 - The petro-occitpital fissure (POF) lies within a critical interface of cranial growth and development in the posterior cranial fossa. The relationships between skeletal and soft tissues make this region especially important for examining biomechanical and basic biologic forces that may mold the cranial base and contribute to significant clinicopathologies associated with the structures located near the POF. Therefore, this study investigates the POF in adults in both preserved human cadavers and dried crania in order to determine if developmental changes can be observed and, if so, their value in age assessment as a model system for describing normal morphogenesis of the POF. This study demonstrates that tissue within the POF undergoes characteristic changes in ossification with age, the onset of which is considerably later than that of other synchondroses of the cranial base. Statistically, there is a moderate to strong correlation between age and stage of ossification within the POF. Further, male crania were observed to reach greater degrees of ossification at a younger age than female crania and that individual asymmetry in ossification of the tissue within the POF was not uncommon. An understanding of the basic temporal biological processes of the POF may yield insight into the development of clinicopathologies in this region of the cranial base.
AB - The petro-occitpital fissure (POF) lies within a critical interface of cranial growth and development in the posterior cranial fossa. The relationships between skeletal and soft tissues make this region especially important for examining biomechanical and basic biologic forces that may mold the cranial base and contribute to significant clinicopathologies associated with the structures located near the POF. Therefore, this study investigates the POF in adults in both preserved human cadavers and dried crania in order to determine if developmental changes can be observed and, if so, their value in age assessment as a model system for describing normal morphogenesis of the POF. This study demonstrates that tissue within the POF undergoes characteristic changes in ossification with age, the onset of which is considerably later than that of other synchondroses of the cranial base. Statistically, there is a moderate to strong correlation between age and stage of ossification within the POF. Further, male crania were observed to reach greater degrees of ossification at a younger age than female crania and that individual asymmetry in ossification of the tissue within the POF was not uncommon. An understanding of the basic temporal biological processes of the POF may yield insight into the development of clinicopathologies in this region of the cranial base.
KW - Cranial base
KW - Hearing loss
KW - Human anatomy
KW - Myxoid chondrosarcoma
KW - Petro-occipital complex
KW - Petro-occipital fissure
KW - Petro-occipital synchondrosis
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/11344292038
U2 - 10.1002/ar.a.20149
DO - 10.1002/ar.a.20149
M3 - Article
C2 - 15584035
AN - SCOPUS:11344292038
SN - 0003-276X
VL - 282
SP - 38
EP - 48
JO - Anatomical Record - Part A Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology
JF - Anatomical Record - Part A Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology
IS - 1
ER -