{"id":6236,"date":"2021-08-24T19:10:05","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T17:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/head-and-neck\/head\/skull\/neurocranium\/sphenoid-bone\/"},"modified":"2021-10-24T21:01:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T19:01:45","slug":"sphenoid-bone","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/skull-head-and-neck\/skull\/neurocranium\/sphenoid-bone\/","title":{"rendered":"Sphenoid bone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sphenoid is an unpaired, butterfly-shaped bone that forms the main part of the middle surface of the base of the skull. It is constituted by a central body, two lateral greater wings, two lateral lesser wings, and two inferior pterygoid processes. The lesser wing of the sphenoid is its only segment not seen from the inferior view of the skull.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The body of the sphenoid has a cube shape and contains a septum and two large sinuses.\u00a0<\/li><li>The structures that articulate with the body of the sphenoid are:\u00a0<ul><li>Anteriorly: the vomer, ethmoid, and palatines bones.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Posterolaterally: temporal bones.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Posteriorly: occipital bones.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The greater wings of the sphenoid expand and project laterally on each side of the body.\u00a0<\/li><li>At the lateral surface of the greater wing is situated the infratemporal crest.<\/li><li>At the base of the greater wing is located the foramen ovale and the foramen spinosum (which allows the passage to the mandibular nerve and meningeal artery), as well as one or more sphenoidal emissary foramina.\u00a0<\/li><li>The spine of the sphenoid extends downward from the greater wing to attach onto the cranial surface of the sphenomandibular ligament.<\/li><li>The lesser wings prolong from the body of the sphenoid laterally, shaping a border between the lateral segments of the anterior and middle cranial fossae.<\/li><li>The lesser wings curve posteriorly to end as anterior the clinoid processes, where the tentorium cerebelli find attachment.<\/li><li>Anterior to each clinoid process is the optical canal, circular opening for the pass of the optical nerve [II], and ophthalmic artery.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_1\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Sphenoidal body<\/h3>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_1\">\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Anterior surface <ul><li>Faces Nasal cavity <\/li><li>It contains the Aperture of the sphenoidal sinus <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Inferior surface <ul><li>Contribute to the formation of both nasal cavity and nasopharynx <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Posterior surface <ul><li>Sphenoocipital synchondrosis <\/li><li>Fused with the basilar part of the occipital bone. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Lateral surface<ul><li>Origin of the greater wing of the sphenoid.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_2\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Greater wing <\/h3>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_2\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It forms the middle cranial fossa with the pyramid of the temporal bone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Cerebral surface<ul><li>Foramen rotundum <ul><li>Connects the middle cranial fossa with the pterygopalatine fossa.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Foramen ovale <ul><li>Connects the middle cranial fossa with the infratemporal fossa.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Foramen spinosum <ul><li>Connects the middle cranial fossa with the infratemporal fossa.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Orbital surface <\/li><li>Temporal surface <\/li><li>Infratemporal surface <\/li><li>Maxillary surface<ul><li>Forms the posterior wall of the pterygopalatine fossa<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_3\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Pterygoid process<\/h3>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_3\">\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>U shaped and open posteriorly.<\/li><li>Formed by the 2 plates, medial and lateral pterygoid plate.<ul><li>Medial pterigoid plate<\/li><li>Lateral pterygoid plate<ul><li>The base has the schaphoid fossa.<ul><li>Posterolaterally from the fossa, the groove of the auditory tube is identified.<\/li><li>Superior to this space, the pterygoid canal is present.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The tip has pterygoid hamulus.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Forms the pterygoid fossa which is formed by the lateral and medial pterygoid plate.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<\/span><span class=\"block-heading\" id=\"header_4\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"title_collection title1\">Landmarks<\/h3>\n<\/span><span class=\"block-content\" id=\"contents_4\">\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Turkish saddle<ul><li>Tuberculum sellae<\/li><li>Hypophyseal fossa <\/li><li>Dorsum sellae <\/li><li>Anterior clinoid process <\/li><li>Posterior clinoid process<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Infratemporal crest <ul><li>Formed by the border of the temporal and Infratemporal surfaces of the greater wing.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Foramen lacerum <ul><li>Located in the area bordered by the greater wing and body of the sphenoid and tip of the pyramid of the temporal bone.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The inferior orbital fissure <ul><li>It is located between the inferior edge of the orbital surface of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone and the lateral edge of the orbital surface of the maxilla.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n<\/span><div id=\"the_titles\" style=\"display:none;\"><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sphenoidal body<\/h3><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Greater wing <\/h3><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pterygoid process<\/h3><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Landmarks<\/h3><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sphenoid is an unpaired, butterfly-shaped bone that forms the main part of the middle surface of the base of the skull. It is constituted by a central body, two lateral greater wings, two lateral lesser wings, and two inferior pterygoid processes. The lesser wing of the sphenoid is its only segment not seen from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4468,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6236","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sphenoid bone &#8211; Meddists<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meddists.com\/learn\/pre-clinical\/anatomy\/skull-head-and-neck\/skull\/neurocranium\/sphenoid-bone\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meddists.com\\\/learn\\\/pre-clinical\\\/anatomy\\\/skull-head-and-neck\\\/skull\\\/neurocranium\\\/sphenoid-bone\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meddists.com\\\/learn\\\/pre-clinical\\\/anatomy\\\/skull-head-and-neck\\\/skull\\\/neurocranium\\\/sphenoid-bone\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sphenoid bone &#8211; 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