Abstract

The occipital lobe of the cerebral hemisphere of human brain is a conical lobe which lies behind the parieto-occipital sulcus on its medial surface, and posterior to an imaginary line drawn on the superolateral surface of the occipital lobe,in between the parieto-occipital sulcus and pre-occipital notch presenton the infero-lateral border of the occipital lobe. The occipital lobe is having many sulci and gyri on its all the three surfaces. Out of all the sulci present on the surfaces of occipital lobethe calcarine and lunate sulci are important because thevisual cortical area lies around these sulci. The present studyis done on (60)cerebral hemispheres of(30)human cadavers which were embalmed and fixed with (10%)formaldehyde.The arachnoid matter and blood vessels were removed by taking care that no tearing occursto the brain tissue.In the present study the variations were found in the lunate, the transverse occipital, superior and inferior polar sulci. The lunate sulci were found present in occipital lobes of cerebral hemispheresin 26 (86.7%) cases, 12 (40%) on right occipital lobesand 14 (46.7%) on left occipital lobes. The variations found in the lunate sulci were asymmetrical. The transverse occipital sulci were present in all 30 (100%) in occipital lobes of right cerebral hemispheres but these werepresent in 26 (86.7%) cases of occipital lobes of left cerebral hemispheres. These sulci were absent in 4 (13.3%) cases of left occipital lobes. The superior and inferior polar sulci were present in 12 (40%) cases in right occipital lobes and in 14 (46.7%) cases in left occipital lobes of cerebral hemispheres of the brains. The present study is compared with the standard literature and studies done by other workers.The anatomical knowledge of presence of sulci and gyri on the occipital lobe of cerebral hemispheres of human brain is important for anatomists, neurosurgeons and general surgeons while operating on the posterior lobe surgery in case of tumors and accidental injuries.

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