Skull base

Side view of the skull:
1st frontal bone (yellow)
4th ethmoid bone (red)
6th sphenoid bone (pink)
7th occipital bone (green)
8th temporal bone (orange)

Human skull with skull base seen from below

Human skull base
from the inside

The base of the skull ( Latin base cranii ) is the lower part of the skull . It is made of units of the frontal bone ( frontal ), the ethmoid bone ( ethmoid ), the sphenoid ( sphenoid ), the temporal bone ( temporal bone ) and the occipital bone ( occipital ). In animal anatomy, the frontal bone and ethmoid bone do not count towards the base of the skull, since they are not considered the lower (basal) parts of the skull.

The articular surfaces ( condyles ) for the first cervical vertebra are located on the outer base of the skull . These joints belong to the head joints .

The inner base of the skull ( base of the skull interna ), ie the bottom of the brain containing cranial cavity is divided into:

• anterior cranial fossa ( fossa cranii anterior , in animals fossa cranii rostralis ),
• middle cranial fossa ( fossa cranii media ) and
• posterior fossa cranii posterior , in animals fossa cranii caudalis ).

openings

In the area of ​​the skull base there are a number of openings for cranial nerves and blood vessels to pass through :

• Optic Canal : Optic nerve , ophthalmic artery
• Canalis nervi hypoglossi : Nervus hypoglossus
• Jugular foramen : Vagus group , internal jugular vein
• Canalis musculotubarius : Tuba auditiva
• Carotid Canal (only in humans and predators ): Internal carotid artery
• Foramen rotundum : maxillary nerve
• Foramen ovale (in humans, predators, ruminants ): mandibular nerve
• Foramen spinosum (humans, predators): Arteria meningea media
• Foramen lacerum (humans, horses , pigs )
• Porus acousticus internus , inner opening of the meatus acousticus internus (inner auditory canal): Nervus vestibulocochlearis , nervus facialis
• Foramen alare caudale (dogs, horses): Arteria maxillaris
• Foramen magnum : medulla oblongata , accessory nerve , vertebral arteries , and veins

See also

• Skull base fracture
• Os tribasilare

literature

• F.-V. Salomon: Bony skeleton . In: Salomon, F.-V. ua (Hrsg.): Anatomie für die Tiermedizin. Enke-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, pp. 37-110. ISBN 3-8304-1007-7
• Wolfgang Dauber, Heinz Feneis: Feneis' picture lexicon of anatomy . 9th edition Stuttgart: Thieme 2005. ISBN 3-13-330109-8

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Salomon et al. (Ed.): Anatomy for veterinary medicine . Enke Stuttgart, 2nd ext. Edition 2008, p. 99. ISBN 978-3-8304-1075-1
2. ↑ Jameda (licensed Brockhaus content): Skull base

Web links

• very detailed inscribed photo of a skull base viewed from the inside
• very detailed inscribed photo of a skull base viewed from below
• The nerves at the base of the skull (drawing from Ranke: "Der Mensch" from 1890)
• Patient information on foci of disease in the area of ​​the skull base with pictures