| middle cranial fossa | A butterfly-shaped portion of the internal base of the skull posterior to the sphenoidal ridges and limbus and anterior to the crests of the petrous part of the temporal bones and dorsum sellae; it lodges the temporal lobes of the brain in the lateral portions, and the hypophysis centrally. Synonym: fossa cranii media. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| cranial | <anatomy> Pertaining to the cranium or to the anterior (in animals) or superior (in humans) end of the body. Origin: L. Cranialis (18 Nov 1997) |
| cranial arteritis | <pathology> An inflammatory condition of the temporal artery. It is a serious chronic vascular disease, characterised by inflammation of the walls of the blood vessels (vasculitis). The age of affected patients is usually over 50 years of age. It most often involves the carotid artery system, and can lead to blindness or stroke. It can be diagnosed by biopsy of an artery, but there is often a false negative result. Elevation of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate is typical. Treatment is with high dose steroids. Common symptoms include headaches and tenderness over the temple (temporal artery). Can be associated with polymyalgia rheumatica. See: polymyalgia rheumatica. Synonym: cranial arteritis, temporal arteritis (20 Jun 2000) |
| cranial base | The sloping floor of the cranial cavity. It comprises both the external base of skull (external view) and the internal base of skull (internal view). See: internal base of skull. Synonym: basis cranii, cranial base. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial bones | The paired inferior nasal concha, lacrimal, maxilla, nasal, palatine, parietal, temporal, and zygomatic; and the unpaired ethmoid, frontal, occipital, sphenoid, and vomer. Synonym: ossa cranii, cranial bones. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial capacity | The cubic content of the skull obtained by determining the cubage of small shot, seeds, or beads required to fill the skull. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial cavity | <anatomy> The skull. (16 Dec 1997) |
| cranial dystonia | <neurology> A term used to describe dystonia that affects the muscles of the head, face, and neck. Oromandibular dystonia affects the muscles of the jaw, lips, and tongue. The jaw may be pulled either open or shut, and speech and swallowing can be difficult. Spasmodic dysphonia involves the muscles of the throat that control speech. Also called spastic dysphonia or laryngeal dystonia, it causes strained and difficult speaking or breathy and effortful speech. Meige's syndrome is the combination of blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia and sometimes spasmodic dysphonia. Spasmodic torticollis can be classified as a type of cranial dystonia. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cranial epidural space | The intracranial dura mater, consisting of two layers: the outer periosteal layer which normally always adheres to the periosteum of the bones of the cranial vault; and the inner meningeal layer which in most places is fused with the outer. The two layers separate to accommodate meningeal vessels and large venous (dural) sinuses. The meningeal layer is also involved in the formation of the various dural folds, such as the falx cerebri and tentorium cerebelli and is comparable to and continuous with the dural mater of the spinal cord. The cranial epidural space is then a potential space between the bone and the combined periosteum/periosteal layer of the dura mater realised only pathologically and is neither continuous with or comparable to the vertebral epidural space. Synonym: dura mater cranialis, dura mater encephali, cerebral part of dura mater, cranial epidural space. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial flexure | The sharp, ventrally concave bend in the developing midbrain of the embryo. Synonym: cerebral flexure, cranial flexure, mesencephalic flexure. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial fontanels | <anatomy> The membranous intervals between the angles of the cranial bones in the infant; they include the midline anterior fontanel and posterior fontanel, and the paired sphenoidal fontanel and mastoid fontanel. Synonym: fonticuli cranii. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial fossa, posterior | The posterior subdivision of the floor of the cranial cavity, lodging the cerebellum, pons, and medulla oblongata. It is formed by portions of the sphenoid, temporal, parietal, and occipital bones. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cranial index | The ratio of the maximal breadth to the maximal length of the skull, obtained by the formula: (breadth × 100)/length. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cranial irradiation | The exposure of the head to roentgen rays or other forms of radioactivity for therapeutic or preventive purposes. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cranial mononeuropathy III | (compression type) A disorder involving vision changes and eyelid drooping associated with a decreased functioning of cranial nerve III. Damage is usually caused by compression of the nerves from localised lesions or a swelling in the area of the nerve. Examples include cerebral aneurysms and tumours Symptoms include a drooping eyelid and double vision. (diabetic type) A disorder involving vision changes and eyelid drooping associated with a decreased functioning of cranial nerve III as a complication of diabetes. Symptoms include a drooping eyelid and double vision. Good control of blood sugars can reduce the incidence of this complication. (27 Sep 1997) |