THE CRANIAL CAVITY

DR. EB KAFUMUKACHE
Definition
• Also known as intracranial space, is the space within the skull
• The neurocranium (calvaria and cranial base) contains the
brain, the intracranial portions of the cranial nerves, blood
vessels, meninges and cerebrospinal fluid.
• Its walls are formed by parts of the frontal, ethmoid, parietal,
sphenoid, temporal and occipital bones
INTERNAL SURFACE OF CALVARIA
• The internal surface of the
calvaria is deeply concave. It
includes most of the frontal and
parietal bones and the
squamous part of the occipital
bone, variously united at the
coronal, sagittal and lambdoid
sutures
• With increasing age, these sutures become obliterated by a
gradual process that begins on their intracranial surfaces.
Process is known as synotosis
• Inconstant foramina may occur in the parietal bones near the
sagittal sulcus and anterior to the lambdoid suture; they
admit emissary veins associated with the superior sagittal
sinus.
• These can a channel of infection from the scalp to the sagittal
sinus
• The internal surfaces of the frontal and parietal bones are
grooved by furrows that house the frontal and parietal
branches of the middle meningeal vessels; the grooves
contain the openings of minute channels that admit
perforating vessels to the haemopoietic marrow within the
diploic bone
• The space between the two tables of the skull is called diploe
• Impressions for cerebral gyri are less distinct on the bones of
the calvaria than they are on the cranial base.
The falx cerebri
• This is a dural partition that separates the two cerebral hemispheres
of the brain.
• It is attached anteriorly to a backward-projecting anteromedian
frontal crest. The crest exhibits a groove that widens as it passes back
below the sagittal suture and becomes continuous with the sagittal
sulcus, which houses the superior sagittal sinus.
• Irregular depressions, granular foveolae, which become larger and
more numerous with age, lie on either side of the sulcus and usually
house arachnoid granulations
 CRANIAL FOSSAE (ANTERIOR,
MIDDLE, POSTERIOR)
• The base of the cranial
cavity is divided into three
distinct fossae: the anterior,
middle and posterior cranial
fossae .
• The floor of the anterior
cranial fossa is at the highest
level and the floor of the
posterior fossa is at the
lowest.
ANTERIOR CRANIAL FOSSA
• The anterior cranial fossa is formed by the frontal, ethmoid
and sphenoid bones, and supports the frontal lobes of the
cerebral hemispheres.
• Its floor is composed of the orbital plate of the frontal bone,
the cribriform plate and crista galli of the ethmoid bone, and
the lesser wings, jugum sphenoidale, and prechiasmatic
sulcus of the sphenoid.
Communications
• Anterior Cranial Fossa Perforations in cribriform plate Ethmoid
Olfactory nerves
• Ethmoidal nerves anterior and posterior
MIDDLE CRANIAL FOSSA
The middle cranial fossa is
formed by the sphenoid and
temporal bones and supports
the temporal lobes of the
cerebral hemispheres.
It is bounded in:
• Front by the posterior aspect of the lesser and greater wings
of the sphenoid,
• Behind by the superior border of the petrous part of the
temporal bone
• Laterally by the squamous part of the temporal bone and
greater wing of the sphenoid
• Medially by the lateral aspect of the sphenoid body,
including the carotid sulcus, sella turcica and dorsum sellae.
Communications
POSTERIOR CRANIAL FOSSA
• Formed by the sphenoid,
temporal and occipital
bones,
• Contains the cerebellum,
pons and medulla
oblongata.
It is bounded:
• Front by the dorsum sellae, posterior aspects of the body of
the sphenoid bone, and the basilar (or clival) part of the
occipital bone
• Behind by the squamous part of the occipital bone
• Laterally by the petrous and mastoid parts of the temporal
bones and by the lateral (condylar) parts of the occipital
bone
The meninges
• The entire central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord)
is enclosed in three membranes or meninges
• the dura mater,
• the arachnoid,
• the pia mater.
• The membranes are separated from each other by two
spaces—the subdural and subarachnoid spaces
Dura mater
• This outermost layer of meninges is a thick fibrous layer.
• In the cranium, the dura mater has an inner or meningeal
layer, and an outer or endosteal layer.
• The meningeal layer covers the brain, and the endosteal
layer is adherent to the surrounding bone.
• A number of branching vessels ascend on the outer surface
of the dura mater towards the vertex.
• These are the branches of the middle meningeal artery. The
corresponding veins lie on the external surface of the artery.
• They groove the inner table of the skull and stand out on the
surface of the dura. These vessels supply the skull
(particularly the red bone marrow in its diploë) and the dura
mater which is fused to its internal surface.
• The meningeal vessels do not supply the pia-arachnoid or
the brain itself.
The two layers of the dura are firmly
adherent to each other, except:
(1) where the meningeal layer forms rigid folds or partitions between
the major parts of the brain (these folds incompletely subdivide the
cranial cavity and support the brain);
(2) where the venous sinuses of the dura mater lie between the
endosteal and meningeal layers.
(3) At the foramen magnum, the spinal dura fuses with the meningeal
layer of the cranial dura
The meningeal layer sends inward four septa that divide the
cranial cavity into freely communicating spaces lodging the
subdivisions of the brain. The function of these septa is to
restrict the rotatory displacement of the brain.
The falx cerebri
• Sickle-shaped fold of dura mater that lies in the midline between
the two cerebral hemispheres.
• Front is attached to the internal frontal crest and the crista galli.
• Broad posterior part blends in the midline with the upper surface
of the tentorium cerebelli.
• The superior sagittal sinus runs in its upper fixed margin,
• The inferior sagittal sinus runs in its lower concave free margin,
• The straight sinus runs along its attachment to the tentorium
cerebelli
The tentorium cerebelli
• It is a crescent-shaped fold of dura mater that roofs over the
posterior cranial fossa
• It covers the upper surface of the cerebellum and supports
the occipital lobes of the cerebral hemispheres.
• In front is a gap, the tentorial notch, for the passage of the
midbrain , thus producing an inner free border and an outer
attached or fixed border.
• The fixed border is attached to the posterior clinoid
processes, the superior borders of the petrous bones, and
the margins of the grooves for the transverse sinuses on the
occipital bone.
• The free border runs forward at its two ends, crosses the
attached border, and is affixed to the anterior clinoid process
on each side.
• At the point where the two borders cross, the third and
fourth cranial nerves pass forward to enter the lateral wall of
the cavernous sinus
The falx cerebelli
• It is a small, sickle-shaped fold of dura mater that is attached
to the internal occipital crest and projects forward between
the two cerebellar hemispheres.
• Its posterior fixed margin contains the occipital sinus
• It is attached to the tentorium cerebelli above
The diaphragma sellae
• It is a small circular fold of dura mater that forms the roof for
the sella turcica .
• A small opening in its center allows passage of the stalk of
the pituitary gland
The arachnoid and subarachnoid
space
• The arachnoid and pia mater lie inside the dura mater and develop
from a single mass of loose connective tissue immediately
surrounding the central nervous system. The two layers are separated
by the subarachnoid space. The arachnoid mater is applied to the
inner surface of the dura mater, and the pia mater is applied to the
outer surface of the central nervous system .
• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the cavities of the brain
circulates in the subarachnoid space. Strands of tissue—the
trabeculae—extend between the arachnoid and the pia.
• Where the meningeal layers are more widely separated, the
trabeculae are usually fewer and a simple fluid-filled space
results. Such larger subarachnoid spaces are known as
cisterns
• The arachnoid is a thin, transparent, avascular membrane,
with trabecular passing to the pia mater from its deep
surface.
• In a few places, notably at the superior sagittal sinus, the
arachnoid pierces the dura as a number of finger-like or
cauliflowershaped projections. The finger-like projections are
arachnoid villi; the more bulbous ones are arachnoid
granulations
Structure of dural venous sinuses
• Dural venous sinuses are venous channels lined with
endothelium.
• Most of the sinuses lie between the endosteal layer of the
dura externally and the meningeal layer internally.
• Two sinuses—the straight and inferior sagittal sinuses—are
entirely enclosed in the meningeal layers of the dura which
passes between the parts of the brain.
• The dural venous sinuses drain the nervous system and the
surrounding bone, and communicate with the external veins
through many foramina.
• There are no valves in this system, so blood can flow in either
direction depending on the pressure gradient.
• The sinuses drain eventually to the internal jugular veins.
Most of the sinuses form shallow grooves on the internal
surface of the cranial cavity
• The dural venous sinuses also drain the CSF through the
arachnoid villi and granulations in the superior sagittal sinus
and its lateral lacunae
• Clotting of blood in the superior sagittal sinus blocks the
drainage of CSF and causes a rapid rise in intracranial
pressure due to the build-up of CSF
END OF LECTURE
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