Bregma

Bregma
Superior view of the calvarium, bregma located at the intersection of the coronal and sagittal sutures. Coronal Suture Sagittal Suture Lambdoid Suture (Lambda also visible at the intersection of the lambdoid suture by the sagittal suture.)
Identifiers
TA	A02.1.00.016
FMA	264776
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

The bregma is the anatomical point on the skull at which the coronal suture is intersected perpendicularly by the sagittal suture.

Location

The bregma is located at the intersection of the coronal suture and the sagittal suture on the superior middle portion of the calvaria. It is the point where the frontal bone and parietal bones meet.

Development

The bregma is known as the anterior fontanelle during infancy. The anterior fontanelle is membranous and closes in the first 36 months of life (according to Thieme atlas of anatomy).

Clinical significance

In the congenital disorder cleidocranial dysostosis, the anterior fontanelle never closes to form the bregma.

The bregma is often used as a reference point for stereotactic surgery of the brain.

Also, examination of an infant includes palpating the anterior fontanelle. A sunken fontanelle indicates dehydration, whereas a very tense or bulging anterior fontanelle indicates raised intracranial pressure.

Etymology

Bregma comes from the Greek bregma, meaning top of the head.^[1]

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

Additional images

• 
  The bregma, human skull.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bregma.

• lesson1 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University)