Odds and Ends: Sutures

Sutures are joints or articulations just like your knee and shoulder.  However, these joints are not moveable. Sutures are squiggly lines where the flat bones fit together.  This complicated fit of the bones makes these sutures very secure.  This is part of what gives the skull its strength despite having multiple bones.  The coronal sutureRuns across top of skull between frontal and parietal bones (like a headband). is between the fontal bone and the parietal bones.  It’s important to say which bones connect at which suture.  It just helps us know the bones.  Say it with me: the coronal suture is between the frontalForehead bone; forms the front part of the skull and roof of the orbits. Smooth and curved. and parietal bones.  The word corona means crown, which is why the beer Corona has a crown on its label.  Yes, the corona virus has a protein coat with a crown-like appearance.

Students tend to get these two sutures mixed up.  I think it’s just because they both start with s.  There is a way to remember which is which.  Let’s start with the sagittal sutureRuns front to back along top midline between parietal bones. which connects the two parietal bones.  This sagittal suture runs down the midline, just like a sagittal section A cut or slice of the body or an organ for study. which divides the body into left and right.  The sagittal suture is along this midline.  The squamous sutureArched suture between temporal and parietal bones on the side of the skull. connects the parietal to the temporal boneBones on the sides of the skull near the ears; house structures of hearing and balance. on either side of the skull.  I know squamous is a word that is used with our epithelial tissues.  We will find that there are universal terms we use in different applications. The lambdoid sutureInverted “V” shape between occipital and parietal bones on the back of skull. is between the occipitalPosterior and base of the skull; curves under to form the back of the head. and parietal bones. 

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