Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Base of the skull
Introduction
The base of the skull (lat. basis cranii) is the most inferior area of the skull.
Structures
Structures found at the base of the skull are for example:
Bones
Sinuses
- Foramen cecum (frontal bone)
- Optic foramen
- Foramen lacerum
- Foramen rotundum
- Jugular foramen
- Internal auditory meatus
- Mastoid foramen
- Sphenoidal emissary foramen
- Foramen spinosum
Sutures
- Frontoethmoidal suture
- Sphenofrontal suture
- Sphenopetrosal suture
- Sphenoethmoidal suture
- Petrosquamous suture
- Sphenosquamosal suture
Other
- Sphenoidal lingula
- Subarcuate fossa
- Dorsum sellae
- Jugular process
- Petro-occipital fissure
- Condylar canal
- Jugular tubercle
- Tuberculum sellae
- Carotid groove
- Fossa hypophyseos
- Posterior clinoid processes
- Sigmoid sulcus
- Internal occipital protuberance
- Internal occipital crest
- Ethmoidal spine
- Vestibular aqueduct
- Chiasmatic groove
- Middle clinoid process
- Groove for sigmoid sinus
- Trigeminal ganglion
- Middle cranial fossa
- Anterior cranial fossa
- Middle meningeal artery
- Cribriform plate
- Posterior cranial fossa
- Nasociliary nerve
- Hypoglossal canal
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]