- Lateral parts of occipital bone
Infobox Bone
Name = Lateral parts of occipital bone
Latin = pars lateralis
GraySubject = 31
GrayPage = 131
Caption =Occipital bone at birth.
Caption2 = Occipital bone, inner surface.
System =
MeshName =
MeshNumber =
The lateral parts of theoccipital bone are situated at the sides of the foramen magnum; on their under surfaces are the condyles for articulation with the superior facets of the atlas.The condyles are oval or
reniform in shape, and their anterior extremities, directed forward and medialward, are closer together than their posterior, and encroach on the basilar portion of the bone; the posterior extremities extend back to the level of the middle of theforamen magnum .The articular surfaces of the condyles are convex from before backward and from side to side, and look downward and lateralward.
To their margins are attached the capsules of the
atlantoöccipital articulations , and on the medial side of each is a rough impression or tubercle for thealar ligament .At the base of either condyle the bone is tunnelled by a short canal, the
hypoglossal canal (anterior condyloid foramen).This begins on the cranial surface of the bone immediately above the
foramen magnum , and is directed lateralward and forward above the condyle.It may be partially or completely divided into two by a spicule of bone; it gives exit to the
hypoglossal or twelfthcerebral nerve , and entrance to a meningeal branch of theascending pharyngeal artery .Behind either condyle is a depression, the
condyloid fossa , which receives the posterior margin of the superior facet of the atlas when the head is bent backward; the floor of this fossa is sometimes perforated by thecondyloid canal , through which an emissary vein passes from thetransverse sinus .Extending lateralward from the posterior half of the condyle is a quadrilateral plate of bone, the
jugular process , excavated in front by thejugular notch , which, in the articulated skull, forms the posterior part of thejugular foramen .The jugular notch may be divided into two by a bony
spicule , the intrajugular process, which projects lateralward above the hypoglossal canal.The under surface of the jugular process is rough, and gives attachment to the
Rectus capitis lateralis muscle and thelateral atlanto-occipital ligament ; from this surface an eminence, the paramastoid process, sometimes projects downward, and may be of sufficient length to reach, and articulate with, the transverse process of the atlas.Laterally the
jugular process presents a rough quadrilateral or triangular area which is joined to the jugular surface of the temporal bone by a plate of cartilage; after the age of twenty-five this plate tends to ossify.The upper surface of the lateral part presents an oval eminence, the
jugular tubercle , which overlies thehypoglossal canal and is sometimes crossed by an oblique groove for theglossopharyngeal ,vagus , andaccessory nerve s.On the upper surface of the jugular process is a deep groove which curves medialward and forward and is continuous with the
jugular notch .This groove lodges the terminal part of the transverse sinus, and opening into it, close to its medial margin, is the orifice of the
condyloid canal .
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.