• William L Smith, Przemysław A Pękala, Joe Iwanaga, Marios Loukas, Aaron S Dumont, Jerzy Walocha, and R Shane Tubbs.
• Tulane University, School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2022 May 1; 161: e75-e79.

BackgroundThe intermediate condylar canal, which lies lateral to the occipital condyles and medial to the jugular foramen, is rarely mentioned in textbooks, even those devoted to the skull base. Therefore the present anatomic study was performed to better elucidate these structures.MethodsWe studied 100 adult skulls (200 sides) to better understand the prevalence and anatomy of the intermediate condylar canal.ResultsAn intermediate canal was found on 6 of 200 sides (3%). On average, these canals traveled 7.1 mm lateral to the occipital condyle and had a mean of 2.2 mm posteromedial to the jugular foramen. Anteriorly, these canals opened into the external surface of the hypoglossal canal and, when present, were just medial to a paracondylar process for which there was a strong positive correlation. The length of the canals ranged from 5 to 7.8 mm. In all, there were 3 partial canals and 3 complete canals. One left canal communicated anteriorly at the confluence of the inferior opening of a septated (bifurcated) hypoglossal canal and an unnamed foramen medial to the jugular foramen. These canals were distinct from posterior condylar canals when the latter was present.ConclusionsKnowledge of the anatomic variants at the base of the skull may help minimize complications during surgical procedures that employ a paracondylar or transcondylar approach or approaches to the jugular foramen.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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