Study of incidence of wormian bones in southern Haryana - A prospective observational study

Abstract

Wormian bones are those bones which found in the cranium having no regular relation to their normal ossification centres. They may be deceived for a fracture skull. The present study was conducted to evaluate the percentage of skulls where wormian bones were present, b anatomical distribution of wormian bones, side specific distribution of wormian bones, and range of observed wormian bones. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine in Government Medical College of Southern Haryana over a period of one year from January 2019 to December 2019. A total number of 130 cases brought for postmortem examination were studied. 86 male and 44 female dead bodies were studied. Location of wormian bones along the coronal, sagittal and lambdoid suture on ectocranial surface was noted. Results: The overall incidence of wormian bones was 20.78%. 19 wormian bones (14.62%) were observed in males and 8 (6.15%) in females. Wormian bones were most commonly located in lambdoid suture that is in 19 (14.62%) cases. Out of 19 wormian bones observed around lambdoid suture, 11 (57.90%) were found on left half of the skull and 3 (15.79%) were on right half of the skull. Conclusion: Knowledge of wormian bones is clinically important for forensic experts, neurosurgeons and radiologists because many a time's wormian bones may be misinterpreted for fractures in head injuries. The knowledge of wormian bones may help the doctors in their daily practice in timely diagnosis and management of diseases or fractures in relation to the wormian bones.