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Image of base of the skull with several of the foramina labeled. The human skull has numerous openings , through which cranial nerves, arteries, veins, and other structures pass. These foramina vary in size and number, with age. [1] [2]
A jugular foramen is one of the two (left and right) large foramina (openings) in the base of the skull, located behind the carotid canal. It is formed by the temporal bone and the occipital bone . It allows many structures to pass, including the inferior petrosal sinus , three cranial nerves , the sigmoid sinus , and meningeal arteries.
Foramen ovale. The foramen ovale is an opening in the greater wing of the sphenoid bone. [1] The foramen ovale is one of two cranial foramina in the greater wing, the other being the foramen spinosum. [2]: 771 The foramen ovale is posterolateral to the foramen rotundum and anteromedial to the foramen spinosum.
The foramen spinosum is a small open hole in the greater wing of the sphenoid bone that gives passage to the middle meningeal artery and vein, and the meningeal branch of the mandibular nerve (sometimes it passes through the foramen ovale instead).
The superior orbital fissure is a foramen or cleft of the skull between the lesser and greater wings of the sphenoid bone. It gives passage to multiple structures, including the oculomotor nerve, trochlear nerve, ophthalmic nerve, abducens nerve, ophthalmic veins, and sympathetic fibres from the cavernous plexus.
The head rests on the top part of the vertebral column, with the skull joining at C1 (the first cervical vertebra known as the atlas). The skeletal section of the head and neck forms the top part of the axial skeleton and is made up of the skull, hyoid bone, auditory ossicles, and cervical spine. The skull can be further subdivided into:
Forming the exterior end of the infraorbital canal, the infraorbital foramen communicates with the infraorbital groove, the canal's opening on the interior side.. The ramifications of the three principal branches of the trigeminal nerve—at the supraorbital, infraorbital, and mental foramen—are distributed on a vertical line (in anterior view) passing through the middle of the pupil.
The foramen rotundum is one of the several circular apertures (the foramina) located in the base of the skull, in the anterior and medial part of the sphenoid bone. The mean area of the foramina rotunda is not considerable, which may suggest that they play a minor role in the dynamics of blood circulation in the venous system of the head. [1]