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Arcuate foramen

In human anatomy, arcuate foramen, also known as ponticulus posticus (Latin for "little posterior bridge"), refers to a bony bridge on the atlas (C1 vertebra) that covers the groove for the vertebral artery. It is a common anatomic variant and estimated to occur in approximately 3-15% of the population.^[1]^[2]^[3] Females are more commonly affected than males.^[2]^[4]

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Pathology

The presence of arcuate foramen is associated with headache, musculoskeletal pain^[2] and vertebrobasilar stroke.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Cushing K, Ramesh V, Gardner-Medwin D, Todd N, Gholkar A, Baxter P, Griffiths P (2001). "Tethering of the vertebral artery in the congenital arcuate foramen of the atlas vertebra: a possible cause of vertebral artery dissection in children". Dev Med Child Neurol 43 (7): 491-6. PMID 11463182. Full Text.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cakmak O, Gurdal E, Ekinci G, Yildiz E, Cavdar S (2005). "Arcuate foramen and its clinical significance". Saudi Med J 26 (9): 1409-13. PMID 16155658.
^ Young J, Young P, Ackermann M, Anderson P, Riew K (2005). "The ponticulus posticus: implications for screw insertion into the first cervical lateral mass". J Bone Joint Surg Am 87 (11): 2495-8. PMID 16264126.
^ Stubbs D (1992). "The arcuate foramen. Variability in distribution related to race and sex". Spine 17 (12): 1502-4. PMID 1471009.