Morphometric Study Of Sutural Bones Of Orbit With Their Clinical Implications

Abstract

The sutural bones form an integral part of orbit occupying the sutural gaps. The awareness of their presence is of paramount importance while performing orbital surgery and imaging procedures. This study is an attempt to find the frequency of occurrence of sutural bones in the walls of orbit and the neighboring facial skeleton with explanation of their morphology as well as surgical importance. The study was conducted on 320 dry adult skulls of North Indian origin obtained from the department of Anatomy, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi. The skulls were observed for the presence of sutural bones in the four walls of orbit and facial skeleton bilaterally which were confirmed radiologically on computerized tomography. The sizes of these bones were measured and the mean as well as standard deviations of the values were calculated. Sutural bones were seen in the orbit and facial skeleton in 102 (31.9%) skulls, with the lateral wall, medial wall, floor, roof and the facial skeleton presenting with 40(12.5%), 12(3.75%), 8(2.5%), 12(3.75%) and 30(9.4%) bones respectively varying in their number, size, shape and location. The organization and perplexing relations of neurovascular structures in this region makes it imperative, that the surgeons be knowledgeable about these morphologic variants.