The sphenoid is a butterfly-shaped bone at the base of the skull that articulates with every other cranial bone, houses the pituitary gland in the sella turcica, and forms part of the orbit walls.
The sella turcica houses the pituitary gland, and pituitary adenomas expanding beyond the sella compress the optic chiasm directly above it, producing the classic bitemporal hemianopia (tunnel vision) from chiasmal compression. Transsphenoidal surgery accesses the pituitary through the sphenoid sinus, one of the most elegant approaches in neurosurgery. The foramina of the sphenoid transmit important neurovascular structures: optic canals for CN II, superior orbital fissures for CN III, IV, V1, and VI, foramen rotundum for V2, and foramen ovale for V3.
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