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. CONCLUSION: 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.
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. CONCLUSION: 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.