Galea aponeurotica

Last revised by William Howden on 25 Oct 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Jones J, Howden W, Niknejad M, et al. Galea aponeurotica. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 03 Oct 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-13465

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-13465

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/13465

rID:

13465

Article created:

13 Apr 2011, Jeremy Jones ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Jeremy Jones had no recorded disclosures.

View Jeremy Jones's current disclosures

Last revised:

25 Oct 2022, William Howden

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised William Howden had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View William Howden's current disclosures

Revisions:

25 times, by 11 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Head & Neck, Musculoskeletal

Sections:

Anatomy

Tags:

cases, refs

Synonyms:

Galeal aponeurosis
Epicranial aponeurosis
Aponeurosis epicranialis
Galea aponeurosis

The galea aponeurotica (also called the galeal or epicranial aponeurosis or the aponeurosis epicranialis) is a tough fibrous sheet of connective tissue that extends over the cranium, forming the middle (third) layer of the scalp.

The galea aponeurotica also contains vessels that communicate between the deep vascular plexus contained within the subgaleal layer below as well as the superficial vascular plexus in the subcutaneous layer above ².

Collections of the scalp that sit deep to the galea aponeurotica in the subgaleal space have the potential to drain anteriorly from the scalp into the eyelids ². This is seen in cases of periorbital hematoma following scalp trauma or surgery in which blood passes anteriorly deep to the galea aponeurotica.

A subgaleal hematoma is a rare but potentially lethal emergency, most commonly associated with vacuum or forceps delivery. An effected newborn can quickly lose up to 70% of their circulating blood volume which can rapidly progress to hypovolemic shock, anemia, coagulopathy and death.