Wormian bone types: investigating their appearance, correlation to sex, population affinity, and clinical syndromes

Abstract

Background: The types of Wormian bones may play a role in population affinity and differential diagnosis of several clinical syndromes. This study investigates the distribution of types in adult skulls, their correlation to sex, population affinity, and several impairments based on the literature. One hundred ten adult Turkish skulls, 80 (72.7%) males and 30 (27.2%) females, were investigated according to type, frequency, location, and sex. Horizontal and vertical diameters and distances from the mastoid process (MP) were measured with a digital caliper. SPSS 25 was used for all statistical analyses. Results: A total of 58 (52.72%) Wormian bones were identified from 110 skulls, 38 (65.5%) males and 20 (34.5%) females. The types of Wormian bones revealed significant differences between being on the right, left, or center (p = 0.012). The most frequent type was type 6 (n = 14, 24.1%) in males and type 7 (n = 8, 13.8%) in females. The most frequent type was type 7 in the lambdoid suture and type 8 in the parietomastoid suture. Conclusions: The present study revealed significant differences regarding the asymmetric distribution of Wormian bones and unilateral asymmetrical types in Turkish skulls. Several factors could contribute to this, including underlying clinical syndrome, deficiencies in embryological development, and population affinity.