The aim of the study was metric analysis of the fourth ventricle in human foetuses.
The study was performed on 117 foetuses aged 4&#8211;7 months. The area and
four dimensions of the fourth ventricle were obtained and the results analysed
statistically. The features of the fourth ventricle studied correlate with foetal age
to different degrees. The correlation coefficient is greatest for the upper part of
the roof

E, Błaszczyk

English

Via Medica Journals

Folia Morphol. Vol. 63, No. 2, pp. 241–243Copyright © 2004 Via MedicaISSN 0015–5659www.fm.viamedica.pl S H O R T  C O M M U N I C A T I O N241An evaluation of the size of the fourth ventriclein human foetusesElżbieta BłaszczykDepartment of Human Anatomy, Medical University, Wrocław, Poland[Received 1 August 2003; Revised 10 December 2003; Accepted 16 December 2003]The aim of the study was metric analysis of the fourth ventricle in human foetus-es. The study was performed on 117 foetuses aged 4–7 months. The area andfour dimensions of the fourth ventricle were obtained and the results analysedstatistically. The features of the fourth ventricle studied correlate with foetal ageto different degrees. The correlation coefficient is greatest for the upper part ofthe roof.Key words: measurement, rhomboid fossa, roof of the fourth ventricleAddress for correspondence: Elżbieta Błaszczyk, Department of Human Anatomy, Medical University, ul. Chałubińskiego 6a,50–367 Wrocław, Poland, tel: +48 71 784 13 38, fax: +48 71 784 00 79INTRODUCTIONVentricular dilatation may be caused by differ-ent congenital abnormalities and may be associatedwith different malformations of the posterior fossa[3, 4]. Modern prenatal diagnosis enables the growthof anatomical structures to be monitored. It is alsopossible to evaluate foetal maturity and gestationalage and to reveal early abnormalities [1, 2]. The aimof this study was to determine the measurement ofthe fourth ventricle.MATERIAL AND METHODSA cross-sectional study was undertaken on 117 nor-mal foetuses aged 4–7 months. The collection of foe-tuses belongs to the Department of Descriptive Anat-omy of the Medical University, Wrocław. A comput-er-aided system of image processing was used toobtain measurements for the midsagittal sectionsof the foetal skulls. Four points were determined:the higher and lower points of the rhomboid fossa,the point between the pontine and medullar sec-tions of the rhomboid fossa and the fastigium. Eachpoint was mathematically defined by two co-ordi-nates (x, y). These points form a polygon. There isa simple relation between the area of this figure andthe co-ordinates of these points expressed by thefollowing formula:A = ½  nÂ(yk+1 + yk)(xk+1 – ¥k)k=1The four dimensions were obtained on the ba-sis of these points, the length of the pontine partand the length of the medullar part of the rhom-boid fossa together with the length of the upperpart and the length of the lower part of the roof ofthe fourth ventricle. Mean values (x), standard de-viation (SD), ranges, median, confidence interval± 95% and correlation coefficient (r) were then cal-culated for the features of the fourth ventricle un-der examination and the equation of  regression (l)was defined for all the parameters in relation togestational age (GA).RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONTables 1–5 show the values of the statistical char-acteristics of the features studied of the fourth ven-tricle according to groups composed of 4, 5, 6 and7-month-old foetuses. The relations between each pa-rameter and gestational age were determined as theregression equations and the correlation coefficient.The relations observed between all the studiedparameters of the structure and gestational agesare linear and positive. The features of the fourthventricle that were related variously to foetal age,the upper part of the roof having the strongest242Folia Morphol., 2004, Vol. 63, No. 2Table 1. The statistical characteristics of the length of the pontine part of rhomboid fossa [mm]Age Number Mean –95% +95% Median Min. Max. SD4 month 19 2.31 2.03 2.59 2.29 1.15 3.27 0.585 month 24 2.75 2.48 3.02 2.73 1.75 4.22 0.636 month 25 3.69 3.15 4.23 3.75 1.52 8.32 1.317 month 31 4.21 3.78 4.64 4.18 1.93 6.40 1.17l1 = 2.1691 + 0.02089 ¥ GA; r = 0.39249Table 2. The statistical characteristics of the length of the medullar part of the rhomboid fossa [mm]Age Number Mean –95% +95% Median Min. Max. SD4 month 19 3.59 3.25 3.92 3.73 2.06 4.86 0.705 month 24 4.84 4.35 5.33 4.90 2.61 7.14 1.166 month 25 7.26 6.75 7.77 7.34 5.40 9.44 1.237 month 31 7.49 6.80 8.18 7.87 1.32 11.10 1.89l2  = 0.49614 + 0.06110 ¥ GA; r = 0.63965Table 5. The statistical characteristics of the area (A) of the fourth ventricle [mm2]Age Number Mean –95% +95% Median Min. Max. SD4 month 19 6.44 5.64 7.25 6.35 3.19 9.74 1.675 month 24 9.13 7.90 10.4 8.31 4.67 15.4 2.926 month 25 14.08 11.67 16.50 12.85 1.25 29.24 5.857 month 31 18.05 14.77 21.33 16.04 3.33 39.04 8.79lA = –0.2350 + 0.21333 ¥ GA; r = 0.44077Table 4. The statistical characteristics of the length of the lower part of roof of fourth ventricle [mm]Age Number Mean –95% +95% Median Min. Max. SD4 month 19 3.87 3.42 4.32 3.95 2.31 5.27 0.935 month 24 4.61 4.16 5.07 4.54 2.49 6.83 1.086 month 25 6.00 5.50 6.50 5.93 4.00 7.76 1.237 month 30 6.31 5.63 6.99 6.13 1.87 9.07 1.83l4 = 2.8824 + 0.03727 ¥ GA; r = 0.44785Table 3. The statistical characteristics of the length of the upper part of roof of the fourth ventricle [mm]Age Number Mean –95% +95% Median Min. Max. SD4 month 19 2.59 2.30 2.88 2.55 1.53 4.07 0.605 month 24 3.80 3.42 4.17 3.81 2.15 5.72 0.896 month 26 5.73 5.18 6.28 5.55 2.81 10.20 1.367 month 30 6.39 5.89 6.88 6.31 3.70 9.33 1.32l 3 = –1.456 + 0.06152 ¥ GA; r = 0.75391243Elżbieta Błaszczyk, An evaluation of the size of the fourth ventricle in human foetusescorrelation (r = 0.75), while the lower part of roof,the area of the fourth ventricle and the pontine partof the rhomboid fossa correlated weakly with ges-tational age (r = 0. 45, 0.44, 0.39). The normal val-ues obtained in this study could be useful for eval-uating the size of the fourth ventricle in the prena-tal period.The anatomy of the posterior fossa can be re-vealed adequately by prenatal sonography and pre-natal ultrafast MR images [8]. Measurements ofthe posterior fossa structures were performed atdifferent periods of human life [5–7].REFERENCES1. Abramowicz JS, Jaffe R (1996) Ultrasound detectionof fetal abnormalities. Pediatric Ann, 25: 228–238.2. Bieganowska-Klamut Z, Kostrzewa M, Wieczorek P, Dy-biec E (1995) Ultrasonografia i tomografia komput-erowa w diagnostyce wrodzonych malformacji tylnejjamy czaszki, opis dwóch przypadków. Ultrason Pol, 5(2): 61–66.3. Chapman PH, Swearingen B, Caviness V (1989) Sub-torcular occipital encephaloceles. Anatomical consid-erations relevant to operative management. J Neuro-surg, 71: 375–381.4. Fenstermaker R, Roessmann U, Rekate HL (1984) Fourthventriculoceles with extracranial extension. J Neuro-surg, 61: 348–350.5. Ichiyama T, Hayashi T (1991) Ultrasonic measurementsof the posterior cranial fossa structures in neonatesand infant. Eur J Pediatr, 150: 719–721.6. Kushnir U, Shalev J, Bronstein M, Bider D, Lipitz S, Nebel L,Mashiach S, Ben-Rafael Z (1989) Fetal intracranial anato-my in the first trimester of pregnancy: transvaginal ul-trasonographic evaluation, Neuroradiology, 31: 222–225.7. Niemann K, van den Boom R, Haeselbarth K, Afshar F(1999) A brainstem stereotactic atlas in a three-dimen-sional magnetic resonance imaging navigation system:first experiences with atlas-to-patien registration.J Neurosurg, 90: 891–901.8. Stazzone MM, Hubbard AM, Bilaniuk LT, Harty MP,Meyer JS, Zimmerman RA, Mahboubi S (2000) Ul-trafast MR imaging of the normal posterior fossa infetuses. Am J Roentgenol, 175 (3): 835–839.

An evaluation of the size of the fourth ventricle in human foetuses

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An evaluation of the size of the fourth ventricle in human foetuses

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