Typing and morphometric analysis of the pterion on human skull of central anatolia

Introduction: Pterion is seen in the norma lateralis of the skull and is shaped like the letter H. Pterional approach such as retro-orbital, sellar, sub-frontal, replate areas, anterior circulation, and olfactory meningiomas, tumors involving downstream of the frontal lobe such as the orbital, basilar artery aneurysm is a commonly preferred surgical approach. The present study focused on the typing of the pterion and morphometric measurements between the pterion and surrounding important anatomic spots. Material and Methods: The present study was performed with pterion typing of 107 skull (a total of 214 sides including the right and left sides) within Anatomy Laboratories of Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Faculty of Medicine, and KTO Karatay University, Medicine Faculty. Distance between the pterion and some important (mid-point of the superior edge of the zygomatic arch, the anterior and posterior edge of the frontozygomatic suture, the tip of the mastoid process, and anterosuperior edge of suprameatal spine and asterion) spots were measured through a digital caliper in millimeter. In addition to the classification made by Murphy, three different classifications were made. The pterion was classified into seven types. Results: The rates of the types were sphenoparietal type by 55.60%, epipteric type by 3.73%, stellate type by 2.33%, frontotemporal type by 0.4%, wormian type by 5.14%, frontoparietal type by 8.87%, and frontoparietal sphenoidtype by 23.83%. Discussion and Conclusion: Morphometric characteristics of the pterion were detected in detail by the present study. Moreover, the knowledge of typing would serve as an important guide for surgical planning and procedures and may contribute to further anthropological studies. This study is aimed at the Central Anatolia population and can be conducted among other populations.