Mastoid foramen

Mastoid foramen
Left temporal bone. Inner surface. (Mastoid foramen labeled at bottom left.)
File:Gray193.png Base of the skull. Upper surface. (Temporal bone is pink, and label for mastoid foramen is at left, second from the bottom.)
Details
Latin	foramen mastoideum
Identifiers
Dorlands /Elsevier	f_12/12373281
TA
TH	{{#property:P1694}}
TE	{{#property:P1693}}
FMA	{{#property:P1402}}
Anatomical terms of bone [[[d:|edit on Wikidata]]]

The mastoid foramen is a large hole in the posterior border of the temporal bone. It transmits a Mastoid emissary vein to the sigmoid sinus and a small branch of the occipital artery, the posterior meningeal artery to the dura mater.

Variations

The position and size of this foramen are very variable; it is not always present; sometimes it is situated in the occipital bone, or in the suture between the temporal and the occipital.

It transmits (1) an emissary vein connecting the sigmoid sinus with the posterior auricular vein and (2) a meningeal branch of the occipital artery

Additional images

• Gray187.png

  Base of skull. Inferior surface.

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

External links

• Anatomy diagram: 34257.000-1 at Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, Elsevier
• Anatomy diagram: 34257.000-2 at Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, Elsevier
• Akram Abood Jaffar: Personal website, Anatomical variations