Scalp to meningeal arterial anastomosis in the parietal foramen.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the parietal foramen and to determine whether it is the site of an anastomosis between the meningeal and scalp arteries.


METHODS
Forty parietal regions from 20 adult cadavers, in which the arteries were perfused with colored latex, were examined for this study. The scalp was separated from the parietal foramen, and the vasculature in the foramen and adjacent scalp and dura were examined using x3 magnification. The scalp arteries that anastomosed with the meningeal arteries through the parietal foramen were followed into the dura after craniotomy.


RESULTS
Parietal foramen was found in 20 of the 40 (50%) parietal regions. They were present bilaterally in eight heads and unilaterally in four. Every parietal foramen transmitted an anastomosis between the middle meningeal and scalp arteries. In 11 (55%) of the 20 foramina found in this study, the superficial temporal and occipital artery formed an anastomosis in the galea and pericranial layer that sent a branch through the parietal foramen to anastomose with parietal branches of the middle meningeal artery. In the remaining nine (45%) sides, the middle meningeal artery had a connection through the foramen with a small pericranial artery.


CONCLUSIONS
Every parietal foramen was the site of a connection between the middle meningeal and scalp arteries. The scalp end of the anastomosis most commonly arose in an anastomosis between the superficial temporal and occipital arteries. This anastomosis may be involved in several pathologies.
Department of Neurosurgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610-0265, USA.
Nobutaka
N
Yoshioka
Albert L
AL
Rhoton
Hiroshi
H
Abe
D001163:Arteriovenous Anastomosis / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D007840:Latex; D008576:Meningeal Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010294:Parietal Bone / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012535:Scalp / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
D007840:Latex