The foveola pharyngea--demonstration in conventional tomography and computed tomography (author's transl)

Abstract

The foveola pharyngea is a cavity on the underside of the clivus, located before the tuberculum pharyngeum and, as a lager pit it was detectable in approximately 1%, overall in approximately 4% of the personally examined x-rays (11/284) and computed tomograms (6/154) of the skull base. The canalis basilaris medianus inferior and canalis basilaris medianus bifurcatus almost always empties into one of the three forms of the foveola pharyngea (foveola pharyngea infundibuliformis posterior). The differential diagnosis to canalis basilaris medianus, canalis craniopharyngeus, suture sphenooccipitalis and bone destruction is discussed.