Osteogenesis imperfecta

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2.2. Wormian bones

The skull is comprised of various bones (frontal, occipital, parietal, temporal) that are separated by fibrous sutures, enabling the growth of the head. Wormian bones are small accessory bones that are dispersed along these sutures and may become visible during a skull radiograph or computed tomography (CT) scan. While they can be present in small numbers in healthy individuals, the presence of multiple wormian bones (typically exceeding 10) is indicative of bone pathology, including OI (Figure 5).

wormian bones
Figure 5. The first image (A) depicts a skull radiograph showing cranial sutures without multiple wormian bones. Image B displays a skull radiograph of a patient with OI, revealing the presence of multiple wormian bones. To enhance visibility, some of these bones have been highlighted in image C (Own source).

 

Last modified
14 July 2023