Suture (joint)

The suture (lat. suture, suture ') is the connective tissue joint between two bones of the skull. It belongs to the unreal joints.

Sutures of the skull

One distinguishes the human skull (cranium ) Hauptsuturen following:

• Sagittal suture ( sagittal suture ) between the two parietal bones ( parietal )
• Frontal suture ( frontal suture ) between the two frontal bones (ossa frontalia )

The remaining 29 sutures are systematically named after the respective adjacent bone, such as suture temporozygomatica between temporal and zygomatic.

Classification according to the form

According to the shape of the connecting surfaces of the adjacent bone plates are different:

• Straight seam ( suture plana ): The bones are at each other up. Example: suture zygomaticomaxillaris
• Nutennaht ( Schindylesis, Einspaltung ): The bone plate of a bone engages in a groove of the other. Example: the perpendicular plate of the sphenoid bone
• Shed seam ( squamous suture ): The bone ends are beveled and overlap. Example: temporoparietal suture
• Tine suture ( suture serrata ): The bones are interlocked. Example: coronal suture.

Ossification of the sutures

With increasing age the sutures ossify, so that the bones of the skull are joined together by bone tissue ( synostosis ).

An unusual ossification of the cranial sutures may lead to a change in shape of the head and as a result, for example, to microcephaly, Trigonocephalus, Dolichocephalus, Turricephalus, macrocephaly or Skaphocephalus.