Suture (joint)

This article is about joints in the bones of the cranium. For stitches holding tissues together, see Surgical suture. For natural structures of a wide range of animals, see Suture (anatomical). For other uses, see Suture (disambiguation).

Suture (joint)
Side view of the skull.
Human skull side suturas right
Details
Latin	Sutura
Identifiers
Dorlands /Elsevier	12773924
TA
TH	{{#property:P1694}}
TE	{{#property:P1693}}
FMA	{{#property:P1402}}
Anatomical terminology [[[d:|edit on Wikidata]]]

A suture is a type of fibrous joint which only occurs in the skull (or "cranium"). The bones are bound together by Sharpey's fibres. A tiny amount of movement is permitted at sutures, which contributes to the compliance and elasticity of the skull. These joints are synarthroses. It is normal for many of the bones of the skull to remain unfused at birth. The fusion of the skull's bones at birth is known as craniosynostosis. The term "fontanelle" is used to describe the resulting "soft spots". The relative positions of the bones continue to change during the life of the adult (though less rapidly), which can provide useful information in forensics and archaeology. In old age, cranial sutures may ossify (turn to bone) completely.

The joints between the teeth and the joint between the mandible and the cranium, the temporomandibular joint, form the only non-sutured joints in the skull.

List of sutures

Most sutures are named for the bones they articulate, but some have special names of their own.

Primarily visible from the side (norma lateralis)

• Coronal suture - between the frontal and parietal bones
• Lambdoid suture - between the parietal and occipital bones and continuous with the occipitomastoid suture
• Occipitomastoid suture - between the occipital and temporal bones and continuous with the lambdoid suture
• Parietomastoid suture
• Sphenofrontal suture
• Sphenoparietal suture
• Sphenosquamosal suture
• Sphenozygomatic suture
• Squamosal suture - between the parietal and the temporal bone
• Zygomaticotemporal suture
• Zygomaticofrontal suture

Primarily visible from front (norma frontalis) or above (norma verticalis)

• Frontal suture / Metopic suture - between the two frontal bones, prior to the fusion of the two into a single bone
• Sagittal suture - along the midline, between parietal bones

Primarily visible from below (norma basalis) or inside

• Frontoethmoidal suture
• Petrosquamous suture
• Sphenoethmoidal suture
• Sphenopetrosal suture

Gallery

• 

  Lambdoid suture

• 

  Coronal suture

• 

  Squamosal suture

• 

  Zygomaticotemporal suture

• 

  Sagittal suture.

• 

  Sagittal suture.

• 

  Sagittal suture.

• 

  Top view of cranial suture.

External links

• MedlinePlus Encyclopedia 002320
• Age at Death Estimation from Cranial Suture Closures
• Cranial suture closure and its implications for age estimation
• http://commons.bcit.ca/biology/articulations/fibrous.html