Birotundal diameter of the human sphenoid bone from age six years to early adulthood.

Abstract

AbstractLongitudinal data for a twenty‐year period are presented for a dimension of the human sphenoid bone as seen on postero‐anterior roentgenograms of 22 males and 18 females (healthy, American‐born Caucasoids). Birotundal diameter measured as the distance between the centers of the right and left foramen rotundum averaged near 32.0 mm for each sex at age 6 years. Individual increase in size to age 26 years ranged between 3.2 mm and 8.3 mm. There is no correlation between size at age 6 years and change between this age and early adulthood.For 54 males and 50 females at age 9 years, intercorrelations were obtained among six variables: birotundal diameter, head breadth, bizygomatic diameter, bigonial diameter, upper and loweer dental arch widths at the permanent first molars. The r's were nonsignificant or low positive (with the exception of upper‐lower dental arch, r = 0.76).The results of this study are aligned with three previous studies of human cranial base width.