title: Complete ossification of the human falx cerebri.
abstract: During the routine dissection of the head and neck of an adult male cadaver complete ossification of the falx cerebri was noted. Anomalous ossification was not found in any other dural component or other parts of the body. The brain appeared grossly normal. Histological sections showed normal ossification processes involving the falx cerebri. In addition, rare scattered deposits of metastatic poorly differentiated carcinoma within the trabecular spaces were seen. Reports of isolated islands of ossification involving primarily the most anterior part of the falx cerebri in man are found in the literature. Our case report represents to our knowledge, the first report of complete ossification of this dural partition. Whether this is simply an anomalous configuration or due to the few metastatic cells found within this region remains unclear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama, USA. rstubbs@uab.edu
authors.forename: R Shane
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tubbs
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lott
authors.forename: E George
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Salter
authors.forename: W Jerry
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Oakes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002102:Cadaver; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000556:secondary; D004388:Dura Mater / Q000473:pathology*; D005625:Frontal Lobe; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D009999:Ossification, Heterotopic / Q000473:pathology*