Computerized tomography assessment of calvarial wall thickness in different gender and age in neurosurgical practice- A single centre study

Abstract

Introduction: Computed tomography (CT) scan has revolutionized the imaging and is gold standard in diagnosis of calvarium thickness. This could help in identifying the racial and the gender variations in calvarial thickness in a population.1 It is helpful for neuroendoscopic procedures to assess size of burrhole in relation to site. Objective of our study: To identify the gender and age variations of calvarial thickness in a given population. To assess the thickness of the various parts of the skull i.e frontal, parietal and occipital bones by computed tomography Materials and Methods: A total of 166 cases, with 71 males and 95 females were selected for the study after meeting inclusion criteria. Thickness of the calvaria was measured over bone windows obtained from computed tomography of brain. Results: We found the superior occipital bone to be thicker in females than males, and inferior occipital bone thicker in males than females which was statistically significant in our study. The overall thickness of the other part of the skull is thicker in females compared to males and right frontal and left parietal is thicker in both the gender but is statistically non- significant. Conclusion: In our study, overall calvarial thickness is greater in females, but in superior occipital region, female skull is thicker and in inferior occipital region, male skull is thicker which is statistically significant and also showed that there is no correlation with age and sides of the skull. Our interpretation did not correlate with the older literature, who interpreted that male skull wall is thicker than females. Keywords: Computed tomography, Calvarium thickness, Frontal bone, Parietal bone, Occipital bone.