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The cranial base in normal and abnormal skull growth
1Department of Human Morphology, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, England.
Insights
This study details cranial base development, emphasizing neural crest cell influence and ossification sequences. It explores postnatal growth, ethmoid bone development, and the critical role of sutures like the coronal ring in normal and abnormal craniofacial development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Craniofacial anatomy
- Orthodontics
Background:
- Cranial base development follows a common vertebrate plan, influenced by neural crest cells.
- Prenatal and postnatal growth mechanisms, including sutural and resorptive remodeling, shape the cranial base.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline cranial base development from prenatal to postnatal stages.
- To investigate the growth patterns of the ethmoid bone and its relation to orbital growth.
- To analyze the role of cranial base sutures, particularly the coronal ring, in normal and abnormal craniofacial growth.
Main Methods:
- Review of prenatal development, chondrification, and ossification sequences.
- Analysis of sagittal and transverse postnatal growth, including sutural growth and remodeling.
- Exploration of dysmorphologies in nonsyndromic and syndromic craniosynostoses.
Main Results:
- The ethmoid bone exhibits prolonged growth, impacting orbital development.
- Brain growth significantly influences basicranial fossa development in a rostrocaudal direction.
- The coronal ring suture is the most critical suture system affecting cranial base growth, followed by the spheno-occipital synchondrosis.
Conclusions:
- Cranial base development is a complex process involving neural crest cells, ossification, and intricate sutural dynamics.
- The coronal ring and pterygoid buttress play vital roles in midface and maxillary growth.
- Abnormalities in craniosynostosis arise from shared pathways in calvarial and basicranial suture systems and the responsiveness of bony units and soft tissues.
Abstract:
In the normal growth of the cranial base, an outline of prenatal development stressed the common vertebrate plan, the patterning of mesenchymal tissues formed from and influenced by migrating neural crest cells. Details are given of the sequences of chondrification and ossification. Postnatal growth is approached in two ways--sagittal growth and transverse growth--involving detailed consideration of sutural growth and of resorptive expansion and remodeling in the whole base. New conclusions have been reached about the growth of the ethmoid, which continues for a longer time than was generally thought, and of its relation to orbital growth. The dependence of fossa growth upon the early, almost explosive growth of the brain is shown in the sequences of basicranial growth, with the maturation of the fossae in a rostrocaudal direction. Of all the suture systems affecting the base, the coronal ring is most important (with the spheno-occipital synchondrosis next in importance). An off-shoot of the coronal ring is noted, the pterygoid buttress, and its importance stressed in relation to maxillary and midface growth. These considerations of normal morphology are widened to explore the dysmorphologies of the nonsyndromic and syndromic craniosynostoses. The abnormal patterning of these synostoses is shown to lie partly in the common pathways of expressivity of the calvarial and basicranial suture systems, again particularly the coronal ring, and partly in the development and responsiveness of the bony units themselves, whether normal or hypoplastic, and of their soft-tissue matrices.