Raiders of the Lost Canal: Review of Underrecognized Skull Base Canals, Fissures, and Foramina
The anatomy of the skull base is complex and poses a daunting challenge to many radiologists and trainees. In addition to knowing major skull base passages, there are several underrecognized skull base canals, foramina, and fissures that are critical to avoid misdiagnosis, understand
the spread of disease, and guide surgical management. A review of the current literature on these forgotten structures yielded numerous original articles and a few review articles, none of which were comprehensive. This article aimed to fill that void. We provide a comprehensive review of
underrecognized skull base anatomic structures and their content and discuss their clinical implications.
Learning Objective: Recognize uncommon skull base structures, their content, and their clinical implications
Learning Objective: Recognize uncommon skull base structures, their content, and their clinical implications
Keywords: AEA = anterior ethmoidal artery; AEC = anterior ethmoidal canal; CBM = canalis basilaris medianus; CPC = craniopharyngeal canal; EAC = external auditory canal; FNM = fossa navicularis magna; ITC = inferior tympanic canaliculus; MEV = mastoid emissary vein; MMA = middle meningeal artery; PEA = posterior ethmoidal artery; PVC = palatovaginal canal; SAC = subarcuate canal; VC = Vidian canal
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: December 1, 2021
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