Frontal Section of the Skull

Description

Mid-sagittal sectioning through an adult male skull brings the cranial vault and midline facial skeleton into one plane, with the frontal bone and nasal bones superior and anterior to the maxilla and hard palate, and the mandible positioned inferiorly at the level of the oral cavity. The nasal septum (vomer and perpendicular plate of the ethmoid) divides the nasal cavity, while the cribriform plate sits superiorly at the roof of the nasal cavity beneath the anterior cranial fossa. Paranasal sinuses are distinguished by color, with the frontal sinus lying superior to the nasal cavity, ethmoidal air cells interposed between the nasal cavity and orbit, the maxillary sinus inferior and lateral to the nasal cavity, and the sphenoid sinus posterior to the ethmoid region within the body of the sphenoid. Deep to the facial skeleton, the anterior, middle, and posterior cranial fossae are readable along the skull base. Clear midline relationships. A sagittal sinus-focused cut like this is the workhorse for teaching drainage pathways and safe corridors. Endoscopic sinus surgery hinges on how the ethmoid labyrinth relates to the skull base (cribriform plate) and orbit, where a thin bony partition separates operative field from cerebrospinal fluid leak or orbital injury. The view also supports clinical discussions of odontogenic maxillary sinusitis, frontal sinus outflow obstruction, and transsphenoidal access to the sella turcica and pituitary gland through the sphenoid sinus. Use it for head and neck anatomy courses, ENT and neurosurgery teaching files, radiology correlation with sagittal CT/MRI, and atlas figures explaining chronic rhinosinusitis patterns and surgical landmarks. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.