title: Metopic frontal suture in a patient with severe dentofacial deformity undergoing bimaxillary surgery.
abstract: Six cranial fontanelles are present in newborns along with cranial sutures. Cranial sutures are a synarthrosis type of joints that occur in the skull after closure of fontanelles. Because of ossification up to 24 months, all fontanelles should be closed. Normal frontal bone consists of only frontonasal, frontozygomatic, frontomaxillaris, frontolacrimalis, and main coronal sutures. Metopic frontal suture occurs very rarely in adults. Some metopic frontal sutures might be related to genetic or general disorders or perhaps are related to an improper ossification. In some cases, it persists as a complete suture extending from the nasion to the anterior angle of the bregma, and this condition is called metopism, or metopic suture. In this article, we present a patient with metopic frontal suture diagnosed accidentally during preparation for bimaxillary orthognathic surgery.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Dental Anatomy, Medical University, Wrocław, Poland; and †Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Silesian Piast's Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Kamil H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nelke
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pawlak
authors.forename: Wiesław
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kurlej
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gerber
mesh_terms: D055762:Cranial Fontanelles / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003393:Cranial Sutures / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D063169:Dentofacial Deformities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005624:Frontal Bone / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008313:Malocclusion, Angle Class III / Q000601:surgery; D008437:Maxilla / Q000002:abnormalities; D024343:Open Bite / Q000601:surgery; D056948:Orthognathic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult