title: [Study of the degree of pneumatization of the viscerocranium in man and pongidae].
abstract: The volumes of the paranasal sinuses of 41 adult skulls of humans, gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans, were examined with use of a Computertomograph type SOMATOM DR. The percentage distribution of the volumes of the different paranasal sinuses showed that the maxillary sinus always had the greatest volume. The maxillary sinus of the humans showed the smallest volume percentage in comparison with the pongids. The typical differences between humans and pongids were observed in the ethmoidal cells and the sphenoidal sinus. The ethmoidal cells of the gorilla and the orangutan have to be defined as rudimentary. Those of the humans come to more than 20% of the total volume of the paranasal sinuses of all hominoids. Differing from the humans, the sphenoidal sinus of the pongids pneumatizes almost the whole sphenoid bone. This volume percentage of the pongids is twice as high as that of the humans. In addition, an index was calculated from the volume of the facial skeleton volume and the total volume of the paranasal sinuses and defined as the degree of pneumatization. We found that the gorilla has the highest degree of pneumatization followed by the chimpanzee, the orangutan, and the humans. The lowest degree of pneumatization of the humans may be related to the reduction of the jaws.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Okayama University School of Dentistry, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koppe
authors.forename: K U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Schumacher
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D000818:Animals; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013100:Sphenoid Bone / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
vernacular_title: Untersuchungen zum Pneumatisationsgrad des Viscerocranium beim Menschen und bei den Pongiden.