Dura Mater Within a Section of the Skull

Description

Seen in left lateral profile, the opened cranial vault frames the dura mater as a dense fibrous lining closely applied to the inner table of the frontal, parietal, and temporal bones. Along the calvaria the periosteal (endosteal) layer remains adherent to bone, while the meningeal layer lies immediately deep to it and continues toward midline dural reflections such as the falx cerebri and tentorium cerebelli. Medial to the skull wall, the exposed cerebral hemispheres fill the supratentorial compartment, their gyri and sulci forming a textured surface deep to the meningeal dura, with the mandibular dentition and zygomatic arch remaining inferior and anterior as stable bony landmarks. For teaching cranial meninges, a lateral section like this is the cleanest way to explain why the dura behaves differently in the cranium than in the vertebral canal. The periosteal layer is the skull’s internal periosteum, so it can be stripped from bone in epidural hematoma after middle meningeal artery injury (classically beneath the temporal squama), while the meningeal layer stays with the brain and can separate along the dural border cell layer in subdural hematoma from torn bridging veins near the superior sagittal sinus. Two layers, two bleed patterns. Use this plate in gross anatomy and neuroanatomy curricula when introducing pachymeninges, dural reflections, and intracranial compartments, and in surgical education to orient trainees to craniotomy flaps and the tactile plane of dural elevation off the calvaria. It also supports radiology and pathology materials that correlate epidural and subdural collections to meningeal anatomy and skull landmarks. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.