Puncture of foramen ovale cranium in computed tomography three-dimensional reconstruction

The study aimed to provide the anatomic data for puncture of foramen ovale cranium in oral cavity. We scan 100 volunteers' skull on computed tomography who have no lesion of skull base, of which the images were for three-dimensional reconstruction. The following observations and measurements were carried out: the shape, size of foramen ovale cranium, and the angle and length of puncture line. The results we got are the following: foramen ovale cranium appears as oval, kidney shape, round, pear shape, and strip shape. Foramen ovale diameter is 8.20 ± 1.54 mm, and width is 4.08 ± 0.73 mm for men and 4.23 ± 0.79 mm for female. The distance from the center of foramen ovale to the maxillary second molar is 51.65 mm for male and 48.77 mm for female. The puncture line is from the center of foramen ovale to the maxillary second molar. The angle of the puncture line with the vertical plane, which is through the midpoint of supraorbital margin and the infraorbital margin, is 40.27 degrees for men and 37.31 degrees for women. The angle of the puncture line with the horizontal plane is 49.37 degrees for men and 52.26 degrees for women. The angle of the puncture line with the sagittal plane is 3.78 degrees. All data between the left and right sides have no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05), but the diameter, the length of the puncture, and the angle of puncture line with the horizontal and vertical have significant differences on sex (P < 0.01). The anatomic character of the foramen ovale cranium has important value on the accuracy of puncture for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.