Clinical and imaging anatomy of the scalp

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the clinical and imaging anatomy of the scalp. The territories of the vessels, lymphatics, and nerves together with the epicranial muscles of the galea are illustrated. The traditional cross-sectional anatomic layers are described and their gross anatomic boundaries are given. They are regrouped into 3 coverings that can be distinguished on normal and pathologic magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) imaging. These are the epidermis/dermis, the subcutaneous layer, and the galea/subgalea/periosteum complex. This information will provide a handy reference to help describe scalp lesions. Index Terms: scalp surgery, scalp flaps, magnetic resonance imagery, seventh nerve, frontal branch.