clivus
Enable an agent to recognise the anatomical clivus, record its development, geometry and observed condition, and identify when its relationships require specialist assessment.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 15 findings · 25 questions
Clival identity and boundaries Establish which anatomical referent is intended and how its extent is recognised.
Anatomical sense
Resolve the name against the source record and observed anatomy.
Skull-base referent
Record evidence that the entry denotes the skull-base clivus.
- Does the originating registry identifier denote the skull-base clivus or another anatomical use of the word? definition
- Which terminology authority or source record establishes that interpretation? provenance
Regional limits
Define the landmarks and tissue extent used to delimit the clivus.
Clival boundary convention
Make surface, bone-volume and subdivision conventions explicit.
- Which superior, inferior and lateral landmarks delimit the clivus in this representation? boundary
- Does the annotation include underlying bone volume or only the endocranial sloping surface? boundary
Clival development and variation Represent developmental anatomy and variants that affect interpretation.
Spheno-occipital development
Describe the junction between the sphenoidal and occipital contributions.
Junction maturation
Record observed fusion independently of assumptions based on age.
- What is the observed fusion state of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis, and how confidently is it visualised? measurement
- Which age- and species-relevant evidence supports interpreting this junction appearance? provenance
Clival variants
Document unusual channels, recesses and pneumatization without assigning unsupported significance.
Variant or acquired defect
Preserve the morphology and evidence needed to distinguish a variant from acquired alteration.
- Where is the channel, recess or air-containing region, and what are its margins and connections? measurement
- What evidence supports a developmental variant rather than erosion, fracture or prior intervention? boundary
Clival geometry Capture reproducible dimensions and craniovertebral orientation.
Regional dimensions
Measure the clivus at defined locations.
Landmarked morphometry
Attach measurement definitions to length, width and thickness.
- What are the clival length and regional widths or thicknesses, in millimetres, at explicitly identified landmarks? measurement
- Which reconstruction plane, endpoint convention and image resolution were used? provenance
Craniovertebral orientation
Describe the clival slope relative to named cranial or cervical references.
Defined angular relationships
Keep distinct angular constructions and positioning conditions separate.
- Which reference lines define the reported clival or clivo-axial angle, and what value was measured? measurement
- Was head and neck position comparable between examinations used to assess change? provenance
Clival bone condition Describe observed changes in cortical and internal bone structure.
Cortical and internal observation
Record the distribution and character of clival bone findings.
Localised bone appearance
Describe cortical continuity and internal appearance with modality context.
- Which clival regions show cortical interruption, thinning, expansion or altered internal appearance? measurement
- Which CT reconstruction or MRI sequence supports each observation, and what remains unassessable? provenance
Change and attribution
Separate longitudinal change from proposed cause.
Clival change history
Link interval changes to prior observations and documented clinical interpretations.
- What clival structural change is demonstrable relative to a dated, technically comparable examination? measurement
- Is the proposed cause supported by a specialist report, tissue result or documented intervention, or does it remain unresolved? provenance
Clival interfaces and review Connect clival observations to surrounding anatomy and appropriate assessment.
Adjacent anatomy
Map relationships across the anterior, posterior and lateral clival boundaries.
Interface involvement
Distinguish a finding centred in the clivus from one extending into it.
- Is the observed abnormality centred within clival bone, on its surface or in an adjacent compartment? boundary
- What relationships to the sphenoid sinus, dura, brainstem and nearby neurovascular structures are demonstrated rather than inferred? measurement
Assessment readiness
Determine whether the available anatomical evidence supports the proposed next assessment.
Clival review requirements
Expose missing anatomical information and retain specialist decision ownership.
- Which unresolved clival boundary, bone defect or adjacent-structure relationship requires qualified review? action
- What additional imaging interpretation or anatomical annotation is needed before the proposed intervention can be assessed? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of clivus this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of clivus this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of clivus this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of clivus this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of clivus this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.OBJ
What it is Filled
The clivus is the sloping midline surface of the internal skull base, formed by the sphenoid body and basilar part of the occipital bone, extending from the dorsum sellae to the anterior margin of the foramen magnum and lying anterior to the brainstem.
In scope
- Anatomical identification and boundaries of the clival region
- Contribution of the basisphenoid and basiocciput, including their developmental junction
- Clival dimensions, contour and orientation using explicitly defined landmarks
- Observed cortical integrity, internal bone appearance and anatomical variants
- Spatial relationships relevant to interpreting clival abnormalities or planning specialist assessment
Out of scope
- Complete models of the sphenoid bone, occipital bone or skull base
- Independent models of the brainstem, cranial nerves and adjacent blood vessels
- The sphenoid sinus as a complete anatomical structure
- Tumour, infection and fracture classifications beyond their recorded effects on the clivus
- Patient diagnosis, treatment selection and operative procedures
- Other uses of the name clivus, including cerebellar terminology
Why it exists Filled
Enable an agent to recognise the anatomical clivus, record its development, geometry and observed condition, and identify when its relationships require specialist assessment.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Identify a midline bony slope between the dorsum sellae and anterior foramen magnum, rather than a lateral petrous temporal surface.
- Confirm that the region spans sphenoidal and occipital contributions; the basiocciput alone does not exhaust the intended scope.
- Distinguish the clival region from the dorsum sellae, which supplies a superior landmark rather than the entire structure.
- Confirm that the referent is skull-base bone, rather than a cerebellar structure sharing the name.
- Distinguish bone assigned to the clivus from the adjacent sphenoid sinus cavity and intracranial soft tissues.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Diagnose a skull base tumour or fracture in a person from images or symptoms.
- Share a person's imaging or records without consent.
- Present surgical options as decided for a person.
- Use images of identifiable patients without consent.
Only with a human decision
- Any clinical decision about a person's skull base findings.
- Publishing images from a patient's records.
May
- Describe the clivus and its relations at the skull base for education, citing anatomical sources.
- Explain that lesions here need specialist assessment.
Moral aspects Filled
- Skull base conditions are serious and frightening, so information must be accurate.
- Medical images are private health data.
Who is affected
- Patients
- Families
- Clinicians
Owners Filled
Steward
The person in whose body it lies; clinicians hold the records of findings.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q66591855 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.clivus
- Wikidata: Q4319750 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4319750)
Direct properties required Filled
- Anatomical referent: skull-base clivus; alternative meaning; unresolved
- Specimen and developmental context: linked subject or specimen, species, age and observation date
- Spheno-occipital junction appearance: unfused; partially fused; fused; altered; indeterminate
- Clival length: mm, with endpoints, reconstruction plane and measurement method
- Regional width and thickness: mm at named levels and along specified axes
- Clival orientation: degrees relative to an explicitly named reference line or plane
- Cortical continuity: intact; thinned; interrupted; remodeled; indeterminate, with location
- Internal bone appearance: described CT attenuation or MRI marrow signal, with protocol and regional distribution
- Clival pneumatization: absent; present with mapped extent; indeterminate
- Adjacent-structure relationship: named structure plus separation, contact, displacement or suspected involvement
Recognition required Filled
- A sloping bony surface at the centre of the skull base, behind the sella and in front of the brainstem.
- Seen on imaging, in dissection or in a skull specimen.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Locate and annotate the clivus on an appropriately oriented anatomical image or specimen.
- Measure clival dimensions and orientation with reproducible landmark definitions.
- Compare developmental and structural observations across dated examinations.
- Map a defect or lesion to a named clival region and record its relationship to neighbouring structures.
- Flag unresolved boundaries, inadequate imaging or concerning changes for qualified review.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Tumours or fractures in this region that are hard to detect and treat.
- Misreading of imaging by non-specialists.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Terminologia Anatomica, Federative International Programme for Anatomical Terminology (FIPAT).
Context of use required Filled
- The clivus is encountered in skull anatomy and medical imaging as a midline landmark at the skull base.
- Its position relative to the brainstem and nearby vascular structures makes it relevant to assessment of skull-base abnormalities and specialist surgical planning.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q4319750: clivus - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Clivus (anatomy) - general description of the item
Open questions
- Does the source identifier for vr.tr.clivus confirm the skull-base meaning, and is its intended scope human-only or comparative anatomy?
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own this anatomical concept, requiring a registry link instead of a separate publication?
- Which authoritative convention should define clival lateral boundaries, included bone volume and upper, middle and lower subdivisions?
- Which population- and method-specific references support developmental interpretation and morphometric comparison without imposing universal thresholds?
- What evidence is required to distinguish normal marrow or developmental variants from acquired disease when imaging remains equivocal?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q4319750/spec.json