Unilateral Parietal Bone Thickening in a Young Female Donor With a History of a Malignant Brain Neoplasm

Sep 30, 2026

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Calvarial thickening can reflect intracranial conditions, most often chronic pressure from adjacent mass lesions. A 21-year-old female cadaver was found during routine anatomy lab dissection to have unilateral thickening of the right parietal bone. Medical history indicated a prior malignant brain tumor. Measurement showed 7.2 mm thickness on the right versus 5.8 mm on the left. No other skeletal abnormalities were observed, and isolated findings are consistent with tumor-related osteoblastic activity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

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Introduction

Differential diagnosis and mechanisms

Case Presentation

Anatomical findings and measurement method

Medical history and publication consent

Review began 11/11/2025 Review ended 12/06/2025 Published 12/07/2025 © Copyright 2025 Rushetsky et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CCBY 4.0. , which permits unrestricted use , distribution , and reproduction in any medium , provided the original author and source are credited. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.98657 Open Access Case Report Unilateral Parietal Bone Thickening in a Young Female Donor With a History of a Malignant Brain Neoplasm Zoë M. Rushetsky 1 , Grace E. Lynch 1, Victoria Pfennig 1, Caleb M. Findley 1 , Lynn M. Waters 1 1. Department of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Suwanee, USA Corresponding author: Zoë M. Rushetsky, [zr3477@pcom.edu](zr3477@pcom.edu) Abstract Calvarial thickening can occur as a reaction to various intracranial conditions, most commonly due to chronic pressure from adjacent mass lesions. We report the case of a 21-year-old female cadaver found to have unilateral thickening of the right parietal bone during routine anatomy lab dissection. The available medical history noted a malignant brain tumor. Measurements showed the right parietal bone to be 7.2 mm thick, which is greater than what is considered normal. No other skeletal abnormalities were noted. The isolated thickening is most consistent with tumor-related osteoblastic activity. This case underscores the value of examining post-mortem bony changes to better understand intracranial disease. Categories: Neurosurgery, Oncology, Endocrinology/Diabetes/Metabolism Keywords: calvaria, hyperostosis, intracranial tumors, malignant brain neoplasm, parietal bone Introduction The human skull is composed of the facial skeleton (viscerocranium) and the cranium (neurocranium), with the calvaria formed by the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital bones [1] . Focal calvarial thickening is an uncommon but clinically meaningful finding because it may signal underlying intracranial pathology, metabolic disease, trauma, or benign proliferative conditions. The prevalence of diffuse calvarial thickening in the general population is not well established and is typically found incidentally or post-mortem. Existing data largely comes from studies evaluating calvarial changes in the context of other conditions and the population studied. For example, in a case-control study assessing imaging features in patients without spontaneous intracranial hypotension, diffuse calvarial hyperostosis was present in approximately 13.2% of age-and sex-matched controls [2] . Although this example does not represent the general population, it highlights that mild or diffuse skull thickening can occur in otherwise asymptomatic individuals. Isolated unilateral parietal thickening is considerably rarer and typically prompts evaluation for structural or pressure-related intracranial processes. A broad differential diagnosis exists for localized calvarial expansion. Intracranial mass lesions, particularly meningiomas, which produce hyperostosis in up to 20% of cases, are among the most recognized causes [3] . Additional considerations include hyperostosis frontalis interna and hyperostosis frontoparietalis [4,5], which are usually benign and most often observed in older adults, as well as metabolic or genetic bone disorders [6-9]. Intracranial calcified lesions such as “brain stones” may present incidentally but can mimic focal thickening on imaging and should be distinguished from true osseous remodeling [10, 11]. Traumatic etiologies, including post-traumatic intradiploic arachnoid cysts, have also been shown to remodel the diploic space and alter the contour of the overlying calvaria overtime [12, 13]. In the setting of intracranial tumors, reactive calvarial thickening is believed to arise from chronic mechanical pressure, tumor-induced vascular changes, and stimulation of osteoblastic activity. Importantly, the extent of bony involvement oft

FAQs

What was the key anatomical finding in the case?

Routine dissection revealed unilateral thickening of the right parietal bone in a 21-year-old female cadaver.

How was calvarial thickness measured and what were the results?

Thickness was measured with a digital caliper, showing 7.2 mm on the right compared with 5.8 mm on the left.

Why is this unilateral thickening clinically significant?

Focal calvarial thickening can signal underlying intracranial pathology, and in this case the history of a malignant brain tumor supports tumor-related osteoblastic activity.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Logic