FORAMINA OF SKULL

Various holes, or foramina are found in the base of the skull. It is traditional in medical
teaching to be able to recognise these and name the structures that traverse them.

Contents

* 1 Foramen Caecum
* 2 Optic Canal
* 3 Superior orbital fissure
* 4 Foramen rotundum
* 5 Foramen ovale
* 6 Foramen Spinosum
* 7 Foramen Lacerum
* 8 Carotid Canal
* 9 Foramen magnum
* 10 Hypoglossal Canal
* 11 Jugular Foramen
* 12 Internal acoustic meatus

The internal surface of the base of the skull consists of three cranial fossae, the
anterior, middle, and posterior. They increase in size and depth from before backward.
The anterior and middle fossae are separated by the lesser wing of sphenoid bone, and
the middle and posterior fossae are separated by petrous part of temporal bone.

The anterior cranial fossa is adapted for reception of the frontal lobes of the brain, and
is formed by portions of frontal, ethmoid and sphenoid bones. Anteriorly and laterally
it is limited by frontal bone, and posteriorly by the posterior border of the lesser wings
of the sphenoid and the anterior margin of the prechiasmatic sulcus ( or chiasmatic
groove ).

The crista galli, a midline process of the ethmoid bone, gives attachment to the anterior
end of the falx cerebri. On each side of the crista galli are the grooved cribiform plates
of the ethmoid, providing numerous orifices for the delicate olfactory nerves from the
nasal mucosa to synapse in the olfactory bulbs.
The floor of this fossa, posterior to the ethmoid and frontal bones, is formed by the
anterior part of the sphenoid bone, the jugum sphenoidale, and on each side, by the
lesser wings of this bone.

The middle cranial fossa is composed of the body and great wings of the sphenoid, the
squamous and petrous parts of the temporal bones and the frontal angles of the parietal
bones. This fossa contains laterally the temporal lobes of the brain. The body of the
sphenoid bone contains in this fossa the prechiasmatic sulcus (which contains the optic
chiasma ) and the sella turcica ( it resembles a premedieval turkish saddle ), composed
by the tuberculum sellae, hypophyseal fossa, posterior clinoid process and the dorsum
sellae. The pituitary gland is within the hypophyseal fossa. The middle cranial fossa is
limited posteriorly by the superior angle of the petrous portion of the temporal bone
and the dorsum sellae centrally.

From before backward in the sphenoid bone is the superior orbital fissure, foramen
rotundum, foramen ovale and foramen spinosum. Medially, between the sphenoid and
temporal bones is the foramen lacerum. In the temporal bone are the hiatus of canal of
lesser and of greater petrosal nerves. On the anterior surface of the petrous portion of
the temporal bone is the trigeminal impression which lodges the trigeminal ganglion
( semilunar or gasserian ) of the fifth nerve.

Foramen Caecum

* for transmission of small vein from nasal mucosa to superior sagital sinus

Optic Canal

* Optic nerve
* Ophthalmic artery

Superior orbital fissure

* Nerves

o lacrimal nerve
o frontal nerve
o trochlear nerve
o occulomotor nerve
o nasociliary nerve
o abducent nerve

* Superior ophthalmic vein

Foramen rotundum

* maxillary nerve
Foramen ovale

* trigeminal nerve / mandibular nerve

o large sensory root
o small motor root
* lesser petrosal nerve
* accessory meningeal artery

Foramen Spinosum

* middle meningeal artery

* meningeal branch of mandibular nerve

Foramen Lacerum

* filled by cartilage
* greater petrosal nerve

Carotid Canal

* internal carotid artery

The posterior cranial fossa, the deepest of the fossae is bounded anteriorly by the
dorsum sellae of the sphenoid bone and the basilar part of the occipital bone; laterally
by the petrous and mastoid parts of the temporal bones, the mastoid angles of the
parietal bones, and the lateral parts of the occipital bone; posteriorly, by the squama of
the occipital bone below the sulci for the transverse sinuses and the internal occipital
protuberance. The fossa contains the cerebellum, pons, and medulla oblongata.

There are four important foramina, the internal acoustic meatus ( in the petrous part of
the temporal bone ), the jugular foramen ( between the sphenoid and occipital bones ),
the hypoglossal canal (in the occipital bone ), and the foramen magnum ( a large
median opening in the floor of the fossa, where the medulla oblongata is continuous
with the spinal cord).
Foramen magnum

* Medulla oblongata
* ascending parts of spinal accessory nerves
* vertebral arteries
Hypoglossal Canal

* Hypoglossal nerve

Jugular Foramen

* Inferior petrosal sinus

* Glossopharyngeal nerve
* Vagus
* Accessory nerve
* Sigmoid sinus
* Posterior meningeal artery

Internal acoustic meatus

* Vestibulocochlear nerve
* Motor and sensory roots of facial nerve
* Labyrinthine artery