Variations in jugular foramen of human skull

Background: Jugular foramen is one of the foramen at the base of skull lies between the occipital bone and the petrosal portion of the temporal bone. It allows passage of important nervous and vascular elements, such as the glossopharyngeal, vagus accessory nerves, and the internal jugular vein. Glomic tumors, schwannomas, metastatic lesions and infiltrating inflammatory processes are associated with this foramen, which can account for injuries of related structures. Variability in anatomical aspect of jugular foramen has been studied by many workers in different part of the world. Aims & Objective: To study the variability in shape and size of jugular foramen which has clear cut relationship with size of internal jugular vein and presence or absence of prominent superior bulb. The study is also aimed to confirm the description given in most of the text book of Anatomy that mostly right jugular foramen is larger than left (Figure 1). Materials and Methods: Present study has been designed to study on 68 skulls (68×2=136 foramen). Result: In the study Bilateral presence of dome has been found in 57.35% of cases whereas bilateral absence in 4.41% of cases. In 64.7% of case larger right and in 19.1% of cases larger left foramen have been observed. In remaining 16.1% of cases both left and right jugular foramen are almost equal in size. Both unilateral and bilateral complete septation have been observed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v6i2.10940 ？ Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.6(2) 2015 95-98