Parietal foramina

A parietal foramen is an opening in the skull for the parietal emissary vein, which drains into the superior sagittal sinus. Occasionally, a small branch of the occipital artery can also pass through it. Each foramen is located at the back part of the parietal bone, close to the upper or sagittal border. It is not always present, and its size varies considerably.^[1] Parietal foramina are most commonly bilaterally symmetrical, with the same number on each side^[1], although they may exist as a single foramen found on only one of the parietal bones.

Parietal foramen
Surface rendered CT of the back of the skull. The parietal foramina are visible at left.
Details
Part of	Parietal bone
System	Skeletal
Identifiers
Latin	foramen parietale
TA98	A02.1.02.019
TA2	519
FMA	53145
Anatomical terms of bone [edit on Wikidata]

Foramina Parietalia Permagna

Foramina Parietalia Permagna (FPP), also referred to as Giant Parietal Foramina or Catlin Marks, refer to a rare condition in which the opening of the foramen or foramina are greater than 5mm in diameter. It has an incidence rate of between 1 in 15,000 and 1 in 25,000. FPP is largely an autosomal dominant heritable condition associated with the MSX2 or ALX4 genes^[2].

FPP is often asymptomatic, but it is also associated with headaches, nausea and intellectual disability. It is rarely associated with malformations including craniosynostosis, cortical dysplasia, microcephaly, eye and ear abnormalities, craniofacial abnormalities or cerebrovascular abnormalities^[3].

See also

• Foramina of skull