The meningo‐orbital foramen in a Scottish population

Abstract

The meningo-orbital foramen is a small opening in the orbit lateral to the lateral end of the superior orbital fissure. It is widely reported to contain an orbital branch of the middle meningeal artery. The foramen may be single or multiple and may occur in the posterosuperior part of the lateral orbital wall or in the posterolateral part of the orbital roof. There is a lack of clarity in the literature as to whether foramina occurring in the orbital roof are the same entity as those occurring in the lateral wall. The disposition of the lesser wing of the sphenoid at the anterior limit of the middle cranial fossa makes it difficult to see how a foramen communicating with the anterior cranial fossa could transmit a branch of the middle meningeal artery. Our study contained 16 meningo-orbital foramina in the orbital roof that would transmit a fine probe. Fourteen of these passed into canals that tracked posteriorly in the bone to open into the middle cranial fossa close to the lateral extremity of the superior orbital fissure. The other two of these foramina communicated with the anterior cranial fossa and both were associated with a more posterior foramen that communicated with the middle cranial fossa. We hope this study clarifies an issue with relevance to surgery in the anterior cranial fossa.

The orbit: A re‐appraisal of the surgical landmarks of the medial and lateral walls

“…Georgiou and Cassell () reported the lowest percentage occurrence of the COF (49%) in 100 Asian orbits, while McQueen et al () observed the highest (100%) in their study of 54 orbits. Our findings show the COF to be present in 46% of cases, which falls slightly below the 49–100% range from the literature (Table ) (Mysorekar and Nandedkar, ; Georgiou and Cassell, ; McQueen et al, ; Erturk et al, ; O'Brien and McDonald, ; Abed et al, ; Celik et al, ; Macchi et al, ). Erturk et al () reported a low incidence of unilateral COF (13.5% left, 18.8% right orbits) and a significantly higher (50.6%) bilateral incidence in their study of Turkish orbits ( n = 340).…”

“…The appearance of accessory COF (AcCOF) has been noted in the literature with the incidence ranging from 0.04%‐19% (Diamond, ; Georgiou and Cassell, ; Erturk et al, ; O'Brien and McDonald, ; Abed et al, ; Celik et al, ). Our findings of 23% are higher than the stated range and a greater incidence of AcCOF was observed in left orbits (26%) compared to right orbits (20%).…”

“…A limited number of studies have reported varying distances of the COF from the frontozygomatic suture (FZS), supraorbital (SO) notch, and the orbital tubercle (OT) (Table ). The appearance of additional or accessory COF (AcCOF) and their incidences are also variable (Mysorekar and Nandedkar, ; Diamond, ; Georgiou and Cassell, ; Erturk et al, ; O'Brien and McDonald, ; Abed et al, ; Celik et al, ).…”

“…It is evident from literature that for both the EF and COF, there is an apparent lack of consistent methods to assess the morphometry and standardize the techniques. Some authors (Rontal et al, ; O'Brien and McDonald, ; Celik et al, ), for example, reported morphological distances from well‐defined landmarks to these foramina whilst others (Mysorekar and Nandedkar, ; Hwang and Baik, ; Kwiatkowski et al, ; Mutalik et al, ) provided incomplete description of the methodology, and in most cases do not clarify whether the distances measured were straight line or real line distances.…”

Intraorbital False (Thrombosed) Aneurysm of the Meningolacrimal Branch of the Middle Meningeal Artery: A Case Report and an Appraisal of Anatomy

“…6,8 Anatomical studies tracing the foramen from the orbital side show that it may occasionally end in a blind pouch or may be so narrow that it could transmit nutrient vessels only for the orbital bony roof and periorbita. 9 However, when fully developed, it could be traced posteriorly to a groove on the greater wing of the sphenoid corresponding to the anterior branch of the middle meningeal artery, and in this case, it transmits the meningolacrimal artery. 9,10 The meningolacrimal artery and foramen are more commonly encountered when the ophthalmic artery crosses below the optic nerve and not above.…”