< // // // //

Case 44: Headache

Can you name the structures on this lateral skull X-ray.

1.

Sella Turcica (pituitary Fossa)

2.

Hard Palate

3.

C2 or Dens (Odontoid process)

4.

Pterion, or course of the middle meningeal artery. Also the thinnest part of the skull. Therefore an external blow to this area can fracture the skull, tearing the underlying middle menigeal artery and causing a rapidly expanding, and life threatening, extradural haematoma.

5.

Sphenoid sinus. It is through this sinus that a transnasal, trans-sphenoidal approach is taken to the pituitary fossa for a pituitary adenoma.

6.

Temporal bones - overlapping

7.

Frontal sinus