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A new anatomic trait for identifying the mendosal suture in young children: the mendosal–lambdoidal angle

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An Erratum to this article was published on 19 December 2015

Abstract

Purpose

Radiologic diagnosis of skull fractures in young children is difficult due to numerous accessory sutures. This is especially true around the occipital bone because it has more than one ossification center. Normal anatomic variants, such as the mendosal suture, may be misinterpreted as a skull fracture. We investigated the anatomic traits of the mendosal suture in young children.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated 52 children, aged between 1 month and 4 years, who had undergone head computed tomography with three-dimensional reconstructions. We evaluated the presence or absence of the mendosal suture. If present, then we measured the length of the suture and the angle between the lambdoidal and mendosal suture lines.

Results

The presence of the mendosal suture was bilateral in 12 children and unilateral in 5 children. The mendosal suture had a mean length of 13.9 ± 3.4 mm on the right side and 11.2 ± 4 mm on the left side. The angle between the mendosal and lambdoidal sutures had a mean value of 54.2° ± 11° for the right side and 53.6° ± 13.9° for the left side. The 95 % confidence interval for the mean value of the angle had a lower and upper bounds of 48° and 60° on the right side and 46° and 61° on the left side, respectively.

Conclusions

The angle between mendosal and lambdoidal suture lines may help radiologists to identify the mendosal suture.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to express our gratitude to Emrah Can M.D. for his valuable contribution and guidance with the statistical analysis and David F. Chapman BSc. for editing the English of the final version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Millet Caddesi, 34093, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ilke Ali Gurses, Ozcan Gayretli, Aysin Kale & Adnan Ozturk

  2. Department of Radiology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Kocamustafapasa Caddesi, No: 53, 34098, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey

    Asim Esenkaya

  3. Division of Pediatric Radiology, Department of Radiology and Radiologic Science, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, 21202, USA

    Aylin Tekes

Authors
  1. Ilke Ali Gurses
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  2. Asim Esenkaya
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  3. Ozcan Gayretli
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  4. Aysin Kale
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  5. Adnan Ozturk
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  6. Aylin Tekes
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Correspondence to Ilke Ali Gurses.

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Gurses, I.A., Esenkaya, A., Gayretli, O. et al. A new anatomic trait for identifying the mendosal suture in young children: the mendosal–lambdoidal angle. Surg Radiol Anat 38, 321–325 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-015-1556-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-015-1556-y

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