Sixteen African giant rats (Cricetomys gambianus Waterhouse), consisting of 8 male and 8 female rats, were used to determine neurocranial measurements of the skulls. The mean neurocranial volume was 5.06 + or - 0.05 mL, neurocranial length was 3.33 + or - 0.08 cm, and the neurocranial height and index were 1.39 + or - + or - 0.04 cm and 41.74%, respectively. The mean whole skull length and heig...

In a recent issue of Critical Care, Wu and Orizaola Balaguer [1] hypothesized that nociceptive head turning after brain death (BD) is a spinal reflex. We argue that it can be a supraspinal response, which would invalidate a diagnosis of BD. The sternocleidomastoid and trapezius are innervated by the spinal nucleus of the accessory nerve extending from the lower medulla to the ventral horn of th...

AIM The objectives were to find the incidence and topography of the occipital emissary foramina in skulls of South Indian Region. MATERIAL AND METHODS In the present study, 78 dried adult human skulls were examined. They were analyzed for the gross incidence and position of the occipital emissary foramen. The observations were made in the squamous part of the occipital bone from the posterior...

A Median Occipital Condyle is a rare occurrence. We have not found any clinical studies in the literature and myelopathy due to a median condyle has been reported once before. Myelopathy due to anomalies of the craniovertebral junction is rare in neurosurgical practice. We describe a case of a 72-year-old man presenting with progressive myelopathy related to a median occipital condyle located a...

OBJECT Syringomyelia is often linked to pathological lesions of the foramen magnum. The most common cause is hindbrain herniation, usually referred to as Chiari I or II malformation. Foramen magnum arachnoiditis without either Chiari I or II malformation is a rare cause of syringomyelia. The authors undertook a retrospective analysis of 21 patients with foramen magnum arachnoiditis (FMA) and sy...

An occipital emissary foramen has been traditionally described as a foramen present in the squamous part of the occipital bone at the occipital protuberance transmitting a vein that connects the confluence of sinuses with the occipital vein. The present study was done on 221 South Indian adult modern human skulls of unknown sex in the Department of Anatomy, St John's Medical College, Bangalore,...