Development of the human eyeball and orbit during the fetal life.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this paper was to describe the development of the human eyeball and orbit during fetal life.


METHODS
Eighteen human fetuses (36 eyes and 36 orbits) with gestational age ranging from 17 to 28 weeks were examined. Fetuses died in the first hours of life due to immaturity and did not reveal any developmental anomalies. The axial and equatorial diameters of the eyeballs as well as the depth and width of the orbits were measured. The data was analyzed statistically with Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficients.


RESULTS
It was found that the axial length (p < 0.005) and equatorial diameter (p < 0.001) of the eyeballs, as well as the depth (p < 0.001) and width (p < 0.001) of the orbit increase with age. Furthermore, growth of the axial length of the eye is paralleled by increase in orbital depth (p < 0.001) while growth of the equatorial diameter coincides with increasing orbital width (p < 0.001). It was ascertained that growth of the human eye during fetal life is correlated with growth of the orbit.
Katedra i Zakład Anatomii Prawidłowej Pomorskiej Akademii Medycznej al. Powstańców Wlkp. 72, 70-111 Szczecin.
Ewa
E
Tomasik
Damian
D
Czepita
Maria
M
Zejmo
Florian
F
Czerwiński
D005123:Eye / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000196:embryology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D009915:Orbit / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000196:embryology*; D012016:Reference Values