[Analysis of growth model in vestibular aqueduct during human fetal development].
OBJECTIVE
To characterize the growth of the developing vestibular aqueduct in order to gain a better understanding of the possible origins of enlarged vestibular aqueduct.


METHODS
Serial sections from 32 temporal bones for every other week from human embryos ranging in age from 6 to 38 weeks were studied with 3DMed medical image analysis software. The internal, external aperture, midpoint diameter and length vestibular aqueduct were analyzed with regression analysis to obtain a growth curve.


RESULTS
The internal aperture of vestibular aqueduct was began to form at 6 weeks' gestation. It grew to reach the posterior surface of the petrous bone in the posterior cranial fossa by 10 weeks' gestation. All width parameter mean value in our embryos nerve reached the maximum average width in the adult. Statistical analysis showed that the vestibular aqueduct grew in a nonlinear continuous fashion and instability trend throughout embryonic life, except length parameter.


CONCLUSIONS
The vestibular aqueduct grows in a nonlinear fashion throughout embryonic life. The widest aqueduct measured in embryonic life does not reach the maximum average width in the adult. These results suggest that it would be possible for vestibular aqueduct to develop postnatally.
Lei
Li
L
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. eili96@hotmail.com
Han
De-min
DM
Yu
Zhen-kun
ZK
Zhu
Xiao-nong
XN
Liu
Sha
S
Chen
Shu-bin
SB
Fan
Er-zhong
EZ
D000886:Anthropometry; D005333:Fetus; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D010579:Petrous Bone / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014723:Vestibular Aqueduct / Q000196:embryology*