Clinical anatomy of coronoid foramina of mandible and review of its implications in maxillofacial surgery.

Abstract

A foramen in the coronoid process of the human mandible is a recently identified anatomic variant. The authors in this script aim at presenting a detailed assessment of the coronoid foramen terming it as '''foramen of Nyer' (FN) based on the person first identifying it. Mandibular cone beam computed tomography scans from a total of 2168 patients were evaluated on a prospective and retrospective scale for confirmation of the coronoid foramen after first identification over a panoramic radiograph. The coronoid foramen was found and confirmed in 96 (4.4%) patients. This script identifying the coronoid foramina of mandible becomes requisite research as a foundation for further analysis due to the scarcity of literature on this recent find. This anatomical-radiological study aims to explore the variant foramina using cone beam computed tomography while determining its prevalence and evaluating its variability in terms of unilateral, bilateral, or gender predilection and propose the significance of this unique anatomic finding. The lack of information about the presence of such variant foramina may lead to emergence of clinical morbidities such as increased risk of intra osseous hemorrhage and tumor spread due to presence of accessory blood vessels.