craniometer
An instrument for measuring diameters, etc. of skulls.
craniometric
A reference to craniometry or the study of the shape and dimensions of the skull, primarily the human skull, for anatomic or anthropological purposes.
craniometry
1. Measuring the dimensions and angles of a bony skull.
2. The scientific measurement of the dimensions of the bones of the skull and face.
Measurementd are taken between craniometric points, a set of standard defined points in terms of which all significant dimensions are thought to be derived.
It applies to measurements of the dead skull as opposed to cephalometry, measurements performed on the living skull.
In the past, craniometry was also used in phrenology, which supposedly determined character, personality traits, and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head and therefor of the skull.
At the turn of the 19th century, Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1822) developed "cranioscopy", a method to determine the personality and development of mental and moral faculties on the basis of the external shape of the skull.
craniopagus
Conjoined twins united at the head.
craniopagus frontalis
Conjoined twins united at the forehead.
craniopagus parasiticus, craniopagus posterior (also, epicomus, miodidymus, and miodymus)
Unequal, conjoined twins in which the smaller or incomplete twin is attached as a parasite to the occipital region (back part of the head) of the more nearly normal twin.
craniopagus parietalis
A craniopagus in which conkoined twins are united at the parietal regions of their crania, one on its right side and the other on its left side.
craniopathy
(s) (noun), craniopathies
(pl)
Any pathological condition of the cranial bones: Craniopathy is a diffuse abnormality of the skull, especially one that is related to q metabolic (change in body form) disease.
craniopharyngeal
A reference to the cranium and the pharynx (the passage to the stomach and lungs; in the front part of the neck below the chin and above the collarbone).
craniopharyngioma
A benign brain tumor that develops from embryonic tissue that forms part of the pituitary gland.
Pressure on the pituitary gland by the tumor reduces the availability of the hormone vasopressin, raising the pressure within the cranium.
craniophore
A device for holding a skull while its angles and dimension are determined.
cranioplasty
1. Repair of a congenital or an acquired defect or deformity of the cranium.
2. An operation to correct congenital or acquired cranial defects, which may include osteotomies (surgical sectionings of bone), ostectomies (excisions of part or all of certain bones), and application of bone grafts or alloplastic (inorganic material implanted in living tissue) materials.
craniopolis
A city of skulls.
craniopuncture
(s) (noun), craniopunctures
(pl)
A small hole made by a sharp object in the brain for medical purposes: Dr. Needle informed his patient, Mrs. Hathaway, that he would need to take a small sample of the tumor in her brain by the way of a craniopuncture, which he would make with utmost care and precision.
craniorachischisis totalis
The failure of the neural tube to close throughout its length, occurring with associated defects in the usual overlying tissues.
As a result, the central nervous tissue is exposed throughout much, or all, of its length.
