Abstract
Over the years a number of investigators have analysed the morphology of wormian bones in different population groups across the world. There have been significant variations between findings reported in these studies, and this has prompted researchers to focus on the influence of genetic factors on the morphology of these bones. In the light of the above observation, we considered it justified to conduct anatomical studies on wormian bones in different population groups; hence, we undertook the present study to look into the morphological details of these bones among a population in the eastern part of India. We observed a total of 120 adult dry human skulls of unknown age and sex, and noted the anatomical details of wormian bones when present. It was observed that wormian bones were present in 45 % of skulls, and that 30 % of skulls had more than one wormian bone. We also found that 2.5 % of the skulls had ten or more wormian bones, which is considered as pathognomonic. Maximum incidence (53.33 %) was observed at the lambdoid suture and minimum incidence at the bregma and metopic suture (0.61 % in each case). We noted a high incidence (21.21 %) of Inca bone/lambdoid ossicle, and bilaterally symmetrical wormian bones were present in 12.5 % study skulls. There were statistically significant (P < 0.05) variations between the findings of the present study and values reported in previous studies conducted in other regions of India and different parts of the world. Our observations favour the view that genetic influence primarily determines the morphology of wormian bones.
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Acknowledgements
The authors express heartfelt gratitude to all the clinical tutors and technicians of the Department of Anatomy, ESI-PGIMSR and ESIC Medical College, Joka, Kolkata, India for their unconditional support throughout the study. We are grateful to the authorities of ESI-PGIMSR and ESIC Medical College, Joka for their kind cooperation during the course of this study.
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The authors hereby declare that the study was conducted only after approval had been obtained from the Ethical Committee of ESI-PGIMSR & ESIC Medical college, Joka, Kolkata, India, whose guidelines are in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and all subsequent revisions.
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Ghosh, S.K., Biswas, S., Sharma, S. et al. An anatomical study of wormian bones from the eastern part of India: is genetic influence a primary determinant of their morphogenesis?. Anat Sci Int 92, 373–382 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-016-0342-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-016-0342-1