skull base angle

Neuroimaging

assessment in Down syndrome: a pictorial review. Sagittal T1/SE of a 38-year-old Down syndrome patient with platybasia (skull base angle > 143°). As shown in the figure, this angle is measured using a line joining the nasion with the center of the pituitary fossa and a line joining the anterior border of the foramen magnum and the center of the pituitary fossa

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The skull base angle allows the diagnosis of platybasia and basilar kyphosis. There are several different techniques that may be used on sagittal images from MRI or CT.

Traditionally, basal angle measurements were based on plain skull images. With the advent and generalization of MR imaging it has been supplanted and is rarely used.

MRI techniques produce lower basal angles than those reported by using traditional radiography. For this reason, Koenigsbert et al. described a new measurement method for MRI usage, which provides consistent and reproducible measurements.

For historical and utility purposes, both plain skull films and MRI measurement techniques are described.