The petrosquamous suture is a

cranial suture In anatomy, fibrous joints are joints connected by Fibrous connective tissue, fibrous tissue, consisting mainly of collagen. These are fixed joints where bones are united by a layer of white fibrous tissue of varying thickness. In the skull the j ...

between the petrous portion and the squama of the

temporal bone The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull, and lateral to the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex. The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples, and house the structures of the ears. Th ...

. It forms the

Koerner's septum Koerner's septum is an anatomic boundary in the temporal bone formed by the petrosquamous suture between the petrous and squamosal portions of the mastoid air cells, at the anatomic level of the antrum. Along with the middle ear ossicles, it is usu ...

. The petrous portion forms the medial component of the osseous margin, while the squama forms the lateral component. The anterolateral portion (squama) arises from the

mesenchyme Mesenchyme () is a type of loosely organized animal embryonic connective tissue of undifferentiated cells that give rise to most tissues, such as skin, blood or bone. The interactions between mesenchyme and epithelium help to form nearly every o ...

at 8 weeks of

embryogenesis An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm ...

while the petromastoid portion develops later from a cartilaginous center at 6 months of fetal development. In certain people, it can contain an

emissary vein The emissary veins connect the extracranial venous system with the intracranial venous sinuses. They connect the veins outside the cranium to the venous sinuses inside the cranium. They drain from the scalp, through the human skull, skull, into t ...

, referred to as the ''petrosquamosal sinus''. Being aware of this anatomic variant with preoperative CT scanning can be important to prevent bleeding in certain types of otolaryngological surgeries. Some authors have theorized that a persistent venous sinus reflects an arrest in embryologic development.

References

External links

Diagram
Bones of the head and neck {{musculoskeletal-stub

See also

References

External links