Frontal Margin of The Greater Wing Of The Sphenoid Bone, Posterior View

Description

Frontal margin of the greater wing of the sphenoid forms a serrated, obliquely oriented border that meets the sphenoid edge of the frontal bone at the lateral skull base. From a posterior perspective, the viewer looks onto the endocranial surface of the greater wing while the frontal (anterosuperior) margin sits superior and slightly medial relative to the thicker posteroinferior portion that contributes to the middle cranial fossa. The margin’s contour frames the transition toward the orbital plate anteriorly, with the adjacent squamous surface spreading laterally toward the temporal region. Bony sutures are the landmarks here. That frontal articulation matters because it defines part of the spheno-frontal suture at the pterion region, a common reference point in neurosurgery and trauma assessment. Clinically, fractures traversing the greater wing near this suture can extend into the lateral orbital wall or middle cranial fossa, and they sit in close topographic relationship to the anterior branch of the middle meningeal artery, classically implicated in epidural hematoma after pterional impact. The fixed posterior viewpoint helps clarify which surface is intracranial and how the frontal margin sits superior to the region where the foramina of the greater wing (foramen rotundum, ovale, and spinosum) are typically encountered in adjacent dissections and surgical corridors. Use this illustration for skull osteology labs, neuroanatomy teaching on cranial sutures and the middle cranial fossa, and for publishing figures that orient readers to the sphenoid’s greater wing in relation to the frontal bone during pterional or orbitozygomatic approaches. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.