NEUROSCIENCES, cilt.14, sa.3, ss.296-297, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
The craniovertebral junction is a collective term that
refers to the occiput (posterior skull base), atlas,
axis, and supporting ligaments. Not only anatomists,
but also clinicians are interested in these variations as
they cause clinical symptoms.1,2 A median occipital
condyle (MOC) can be of various shapes and sizes.3
The
basilar (mamillar or papillar) processes are hemisphereshaped bone projections located at the front rim of
the foramen magnum. They show a surprisingly high
degree of variance; they may be unilateral or bilateral.1
The hypocondylar arch is a more or less complete arch,
which is situated extracranially at the anterior margin
of the foramen magnum.4
An exostosis anterior to the
foramen magnum, which has been described by Taitz,4
is a structure very similar to the MOC, which might
represent a manifestation of an occipital vertebra when it
is found together with a hypocondylar arch.4
We aimed
to investigate the frequency of the MOC, the basilar
processes and the hypocondylar arch in adult skulls.