Morphological Study of Wormian Bones in Dry Human Skulls in Uttar Pradesh Region

Background: Wormian bones are supernumerary bones that grow in cranial sutures and fontanelles. These auxiliary bones exhibit significant anatomical differences among populations and have clinical implications in neurosurgical practice, forensic studies, and radiological interpretation. Anatomists and clinicians must acquire knowledge about their morphological patterns and patterns of distribution. Material and Methods: It is a cross-sectional observational study conducted in the Department of Anatomy, Motilal Nehru Medical College, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, and the Departments of Anatomy at Rajshree Medical College, Rajshree Medical and Research Institute, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. One hundred and forty dry human skulls of sex and age were considered. Fractured skulls, skull injuries, or pathological skulls were ruled out. The presence, number, location, and topographic distribution of Wormian bones along different sutures of each skull were systematically measured. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data, and the chi-squared test was used where necessary. Results: Wormian bones were found in 47 skulls (33.57%). The lambdoid suture had the highest (44.68%), and then the coronal suture (19.15%), the sagittal suture (14.89%), and the asterion (12.77%). The average Wormian bones of the affected skull were 2.34 with a standard deviation of 1.56 (1-8). These ossicles were most concentrated in the lambda region (29.09%). Single Wormian bones were found in 19 skulls (40.43%), and multiple bones were found in 28 skulls (59.57%). Statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between the presence of Wormian bones and the lambdoid suture (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This article shows that Wormian bones are a fairly common anatomical anomaly among the North Indian population. The most common place of occurrence is the lambdoid suture. Awareness of these differences is imperative for proper interpretation of radiological data, forensic identification, and risk-free neurosurgical methods. Keywords: Wormian bones, Sutural bones, Lambdoid suture, Skull morphology, Anatomical variations, Supernumerary ossicles.