(Folia Morphol 2013; 72, 1: 10-16)

Vertebral artery (VA), the main element of the posterior brain circulation, has many anatomical variations which generally were widely investigated. However, available data vary in wide ranges, reflecting very different sample sizes, lack of data about left-right or sex differences, and about possible ethnic, regionally specific or genetic differences. Certain new findings suggest possible involvement of some environmental factors in VA variations. Accurate anatomical data about VA variations in different regions of the world, including Balkans countries, are still lacking. Therefore we investigated morphological variability of VA origin and its entrance level into cervical transverse foramina in population of Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina), including data about the sex and side. Anatomy of VA was investigated in 112 persons (224 arteries) of both sexes (58 males, 54 females; age 19 - 83 years), using 64-slice CT scanner. Origin of VA from subclavian artery (SCA) we found in 95.08% of arteries (52 males, 49 females). Only in one male (0.45 %) left VA and left SCA had an specific origin from aortic arch (AA), which we named as an "common area of origin". All other observed variations in origin were only of left VA, originating from AA in 4.47 % (5 males, 5 females). Left VA Most often (usual) entrance level into transverse foramen we found at C6 (87.5%), followed by C5 (8.93 %), C4 (3.12 %), and in one case at level C7 (0.45 %). Entry levels at C5 both, on right and on the left side, were 3 times more frequent in males than in females. Wide ranges of differences between the data we obtained on a sample in Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the data from many other studies require further and wider investigations.

The purposes of this article were identification (ie, verification and gradation) of anatomical risk factors that lead to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and determination of the probability of ACL injury among the population actively engaged in sports activities. We evaluated 66 patients divided into 2 groups: 33 patients in the examined group diagnosed with ACL lesion, and 33 patients in the control group diagnosed with patellofemoral pain. Patients were matched by age, sex, type of lesion, and whether the lesion was left or right sided. Measurements were carried out by radiography and magnetic resonance imaging. The study examined 32 anatomical factors. After identifying factors that lead to ACL injury, the following were determined: the coefficient of significance for each individual factor via the discriminant analysis and the canonical discriminant (i.e., canonical correlation). Fifteen factors in men and 8 factors in women were differentiated as having influence on ACL injury. Based on these factors, it was determined whether the patients belonged to the examined or the control group with a success rate of 100% in men (100% sensitivity and specificity) and 91.7% in women (100% sensitivity and 83.3% specificity). The anatomy of the ACL prone to rupture and of the skeletal structures influencing it is significantly different from the anatomy of the ACL ligament resistant to injury. The probability of precise prognosis of ACL injury based on differentiated anatomical factors is 88.9% in men and 75.7% in women actively engaged in sports activities.

Precuneus, a quadrangular gyms of the medial surface of the human parietal lobe, is bound by three primary brain sulci and by superior hemispheric border. Precise encephalometric data about precuneus are important in the studies of brain lateralization, sex dimorphism, and brain functions in general. In this study, total and visible (exstrasulcal) surface area of the precuneus were measured on 50 brains of the adult persons (31 male, and 29 female), together with the investigation of its relationship to the side (left/right) and gender (sex dimorphism). The average total surface area of the precuneus was 16.07 cm2 on the right (males 16.44 cm2, females 15.27 cm2), and 15.44 cm2 on the left (males 15.67 cm2, females 14.62 cm2). The average visible (extrasulcal) surface area of cortex of precuneus was 9.97 cm2 on the left (males 10.75 cm2, females 8.91 cm2), and 9.38 cm2 on the right (males 10.25 cm2, females 8.19 cm2). Exstrasulcal surface area of the left precuneus was larger, by 0.59 cm on the average, which was not statistically significant. Total surface area of precuneus of males was significantly larger on the right (16.44 cm2) (p<0.01) than on the left (15.67 cm2). In females it was also larger on the right (15.27 cm2) than on the left (14.62 cm2), but with no statistical significance. Visible (exstrasulcal) surface area of both, (left and right precuneus of males), was highly significantly larger in comparison with the females (p<0.001). The obtained results and other facts suggested that sex dimorphism of human brain, including precuneus, was present, but not always easily observable, studied or proven in all the details.