Development of brain vessels in human embryos and fetuses in conditions of prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Light and electron microscopy were used to study the characteristics of the formation of brain vascular structures at the early stages of development in conditions of maternal alcoholization during pregnancy. Computer morphometric methods using the Scion Image system for image analysis showed that fetuses at 11-12 weeks of development in conditions of prenatal alcohol exposure showed a decrease in the mean absolute cross-sectional area of vessels in the intermediate layer of the brain, with an increase in their relative area and an increase per unit area of sections, as compared with the control group. Vessels started to differentiate into arteries and veins from 10 weeks of development.