Craniomaxillofacial trauma
Anatomic Study of the Distance Between the Articular Eminence and Foramen Spinosum and Foramen Spinosum and Petrotympanic Fissure

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2013.12.030Get rights and content

Purpose

The middle meningeal artery is in close proximity to the medial aspect of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). A major potential complication of surgery in the area of the TMJ is possible severance of the middle meningeal artery. An understanding of the relationship of the middle meningeal artery to easily identifiable landmarks lateral to the TMJ can help prevent the complications associated with TMJ surgery. The aim of the present study was to define the location of the middle meningeal artery by relating the distance between the easily identifiable bony landmarks of the articular eminence, petrotympanic fissure, and foramen spinosum.

Materials and Methods

Using a cross-sectional study design, we selected dried skulls from the Hamman-Todd skeleton collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History that were older than 20 years of age at death. The primary study variables were the distances between the articular eminence and foramen spinosum and the foramen spinosum and petrotympanic fissure. To appropriately analyze the variables, stratifications of age, gender, race, and anatomic location were applied. To measure the relationship between the stratifications and distances, a multivariate analysis of variance test was performed. The statistical results were deemed significant at P < .05.

Results

The sample consisted of 354 skulls or a total of 708 complexes. In analyzing the data, we noted that the only stratifications that bore any statistical significance were gender, with P < .0001, and the race-distance correlation, with a P value of .0007.

Conclusions

The results of the present study suggest a definite difference in regard to gender on the distance between both sets of anatomic landmarks. Future studies could be tailored to further explore the effect of age on the distance, as a slight correlation was noted in our study.

Section snippets

Study Design and Sample

To address our research goal, a cross-sectional study was designed and implemented. A total of 354 skulls (708 joints) from the Hamman-Todd skeleton collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History were assessed. These skulls were organized numerically within the collection and were then labeled by age, race, and gender. All specimens were from the years of 1850 to 1950.

Variables

The sample size of 354 skulls gave us a power of 99% to find an effect size of 0.78 using a P value of .05 in a 2-sided t

Results

Once all the data had been obtained, we were able to stratify the statistics according to gender and race. Subject age was changed to a categorical variable once we had established that no predictive r value was present between age and distance. The average of all the measurements observed is listed in Table 1. The average distance between the articular eminence to the foramen spinosum (D1) in the male skulls was 27.84 mm, and in the female skulls, it was 26.28 mm. The average distance between

Discussion

Using the height of the articular eminence, the most lateral aspect of the petrotympanic fissure and the most lateral aspect of the foramen spinosum, we calculated the distance between these bony landmarks. The average distance between the articular eminence and the foramen spinosum in the male and female skulls was 27.84 and 26.28 mm, respectively, for an average difference of 1.64 mm. The average distance between the petrotympanic fissure and foramen spinosum in the male and female skulls was

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Lyman M. Jellema for his aid in the use of the Hamman-Todd collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

References (10)

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Dr Baur is a consultant for Novartis and Checkpoint Surgical LLC.

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