Metopism: a Study of the Persistent Metopic Suture

Abstract

Metopism, the persistence of the metopic suture in adulthood, is a clinically significant radiographic finding. In addition to masquerading as a fracture of the frontal bone, a persistent metopic suture may be associated with other clinically significant anatomical variations including frontal sinus abnormalities. Several geographically and craniofacially distinct populations have yet to be assessed for the prevalence of metopism. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of metopic sutures in adult crania of diverse populations among which scant research exists. A total of 505 adult crania were examined for the presence of a metopic suture. A total of 13 (2.57%) demonstrated metopism. Among subpopulations, metopism was present in 8.06% (5:62) of European crania, 15.38% (2:13) of East Asian crania, 2.20% (2:91) of Egyptian crania, and 2.86% (1:35) of Bengali crania. Metopism was also found in 1 Chilean, Roman, and Tchuktchi cranium, respectively. Metopism was not seen in crania from individuals of African (non-Egyptian) descent (0:62), Peruvians (0:144), Malayans (0:23), or Mexicans (0:23). Among sexes, metopism was present in 3.77% (8:212) of females and 1.79% (5:279) of males. The prevalence of metopism differs between populations and sexes. The results of this study provide anthropological, developmental, and clinical insight with regard to metopism.

A case of atlanto-occipital fusion with other multiple anatomic variations

“…The MS may reside as a partial pattern or a complete pattern. The partial patterns expand upward from the nasion or downward from the bregma, different from the completes spanning from the bregma to the nasion [11,24,25]. The suture forms from the bregma and performs toward the nasion.…”

“…MS may be confused with midline fractures of the frontal bone in radiology in terms of clinical significance. In addition, studies have shown that MS is associated with other clinically significant findings, such as frontal sinus abnormality, cleft lip, visceral inversion, cleft palate, cretinism, and intelligence [11,[30][31][32].…”

“…Studies have reported that the incidence of MS is 2.20%～8.1%. Meanwhile, racial and gender factors vary in MS [11,12]. This report presents a rare case of AOF, posterior arch defects of the atlas (PADA), MS, wormian bones (WBs).…”

“…The existence of the MS in an adult cranium is described as a median frontal suture or a persistent metopic suture [11]. It is generally recognized as a normal variation.…”

Cranial suture headache: An extracranial head pain syndrome originating in the cranial sutures of the skull

“…However, the frontal suture can remain open into adulthood in about 4% of women and 2% of men. 5 Estrogen has been shown to have an influence on cranial suture formation and closure, and females appear to close cranial sutures slower than males. 6 There are multiple cranial sutures (see images Figure 1(A) to (D)) and thus numerous possible distributions for cranial suture headache.…”