The dichotomous pattern of craniofacial expansion during aging.

The craniofacial skeleton expands during adult life and previous investigations have demonstrated non-uniformity in continuing growth. This report confirms the fact that sella turcica, frontal sinus and the skull tables remodel at a rate per unit time which is twice the amount of the anterios and posterior skull diameter. The dual enlargement pattern occurs in both male and females and has been observed longitudinally from the third through the eighth decades of life. Though associations in the continuing growth process of separate anatomical parts throughout the human skeleton remain obscure, the degree to which components vary within the craniofacial system is now clearly evident.