Cranial sutures

Cranial sutures are fibrous joints connecting the bones of the skull. They hold the skull together while allowing growth during development.

Suture mesenchyme: The embryonic connective tissue between developing skull bones that forms and maintains cranial sutures. This tissue preserves the boundary between bones as the skull grows.
Neurocranium: The part of the skull that surrounds and protects the brain. Its bones meet at the cranial sutures.
Sagittal suture: The midline suture between the two parietal bones of the skull. It is a long, readily identified suture running along the skull roof.
Cranial sutures in computed tomography: Imaging assessment of skull sutures using cross-sectional X-ray images. CT can show whether a suture is open, narrowed, or fused.
Gomphosis: A fibrous joint that anchors a tooth in its socket. Like sutures, it is fibrous, but it joins a tooth to the jaw rather than skull bones.
Intramembranous ossification: Bone formation directly from mesenchymal tissue, without a cartilage template. Most flat bones meeting at cranial sutures form through this process.
Flat bones of the skull: Thin, curved bones that form much of the skull roof and sides. Their edges are joined by many of the most visible cranial sutures.
Coronal suture: The suture between the frontal bone and the two parietal bones. Its transverse course separates the forehead region from the parietal bones.
Cranial vault remodeling: Surgery that reshapes the skull vault to address abnormal form or restricted growth. Surgeons use the relationships among bones and sutures to plan skull reconstruction.
Syndesmosis: A fibrous joint in which bones are connected by a ligament or interosseous membrane. It contrasts with sutures, whose bones are joined by a thin layer of dense connective tissue.

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