• Carmine Antonio Donofrio, Juan J Cardona, Lucia Riccio, Arada Chaiyamoon, Devendra Shekhawat, Joe Iwanaga, Aaron S Dumont, Neal Jackson, Filippo Badaloni, R Shane Tubbs, and Antonio Fioravanti.
• Department of Neurosurgery, ASST Cremona, Cremona, Italy; Division of Biology and Genetics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: carmine.donofrio@hotmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2024 Jun 1; 186: e721e726e721-e726.

ObjectiveNeuronavigation systems coupled with previously reported external anatomical landmarks assist neurosurgeons during intracranial procedures. We aimed to verify whether the posterior auricularis muscle (PAM) could be used as an external landmark for identifying the sigmoid sinus (SS) and the transverse-sigmoid sinus junction (TSSJ) during posterior cranial fossa surgery.MethodsThe PAM was dissected in 10 adult cadaveric heads and after drilling the underlying bone, the relationships with the underlying SS and TSSJ were noted. The width and length of the PAM, and the distance between the muscle and reference points (asterion, mastoid tip, and midline), were measured.ResultsThe PAM was identified in 18 sides (9 left, 9 right). The first 20 mm of the muscle length (mean 28.28 mm) consistently overlay the mastoid process anteriorly and the proximal half of the SS slightly posteriorly on all sides. The superior border was a mean of 2.22 mm inferior to the TSSJ and, especially when the muscle length exceeded 20 mm, this border extended closer to the transverse sinus; it was usually found at a mean of 3.11 mm (range 0.0-13.80 mm) inferior to the distal third of the transverse sinus.ConclusionsSuperficial landmarks give surgeons improved surgical access, avoiding overexposure of deep neurovascular structures and reducing brain retraction. On the basis of our cadaveric study, the PAM is a reliable and accurate direct landmark for identifying the SS and TSSJ. The PAM could potentially be used for guiding the retrosigmoid approach.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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