Basilar tubercles and eminences of the clivus: Novel anatomical entities
4
Issued Date
2023-10-01
Resource Type
ISSN
09409602
eISSN
16180402
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85165218379
Pubmed ID
37460045
Journal Title
Annals of Anatomy
Volume
250
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Annals of Anatomy Vol.250 (2023)
Suggested Citation
Tangrodchanapong T., Yurasakpong L., Suwannakhan A., Chaiyamoon A., Iwanaga J., Tubbs R.S. Basilar tubercles and eminences of the clivus: Novel anatomical entities. Annals of Anatomy Vol.250 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.aanat.2023.152133 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/88113
Title
Basilar tubercles and eminences of the clivus: Novel anatomical entities
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Background: The clivus forms the central skull base between the dorsum sellae and the foramen magnum. Although bony variations of the inferior surface of the clivus are well-recognized and have been well studied, studies of bony variations of the basilar (superior) surface of the clivus are scarce. Therefore, the present study was performed to investigate bony anatomical variations on the basilar part of the clivus. Methods: Computed tomography scans belonging to 407 Indian subjects from the CQ500 open-access dataset were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Bony tubercles on the basilar surface of the clivus were found in 40 cases (9.83%). They were classified into three types including single, double and triple. A single tubercle was found in 35 cases (8.60%) including 12 on the left (2.95%), 10 on the right (2.46%) and 13 in the center (3.19%). The tubercles were doubled in four cases (0.98%) and tripled in one case (0.25%). The average width and height of the tubercles were 4.4 ± 1.5 mm (range 1.4–7.9 mm) and 1.7 ± 0.7 mm (range 0.8–4.2 mm), respectively. Ninety-five (95%) percent of the tubercles were located on the lower half of the clivus. Conclusions: To our knowledge, these tubercles have not been previously described. Therefore, we suggest the terms “basilar tubercles of the clivus” and “basilar eminences of the clivus”, depending on their sizes. Knowledge of these newly described structures is important when interpreting radiological images of the skull base.