Persistance of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis in an adult patient

The postnatal development of the central skull base is a complex process: a t least 25 separate ossification centers are assimilated in the maturing sp henoid and occipital bones. Some synchondroses may only be partially fused and persist during adulthood. We report the case of a 30-year-old man with a penetrating trauma of the central skull base. Skull computed tomography d emonstrated a rare anatomic variant: incomplete fusion of the spheno-occipi tal synchondrosis. Knowledge of the normal skull base development and of it s variants may prove helpful in differentiating a post-traumatic injury fro m a normal variant.