W Squier1, E Lindberg, J Mack, S Darby. 1. Department of Neuropathology, West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. waney.squier@clneuro.ox.ac.uk
Abstract
PURPOSE: This paper aims to make a systematic study of human dura to establish the presence of fluid transport channels and their relationship to age. METHODS: Samples of parasagittal dura from autopsy cases from mid-gestation to the ninth decade were examined by light microscopy. RESULTS: We have demonstrated the presence of unlined rounded spaces, uncommon in the fetus and neonate but increasingly evident after 30 weeks of postnatal life. We have shown that intradural bleeding is inversely correlated with the presence of these channels and with age. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that dural maturation, involving the development of arachnoid granulations, may be related to dilatation of intradural fluid channels, allowing them to be identified histologically. The risk of reflux of blood into the dura appears to reduce with age.
PURPOSE: This paper aims to make a systematic study of human dura to establish the presence of fluid transport channels and their relationship to age. METHODS: Samples of parasagittal dura from autopsy cases from mid-gestation to the ninth decade were examined by light microscopy. RESULTS: We have demonstrated the presence of unlined rounded spaces, uncommon in the fetus and neonate but increasingly evident after 30 weeks of postnatal life. We have shown that intradural bleeding is inversely correlated with the presence of these channels and with age. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that dural maturation, involving the development of arachnoid granulations, may be related to dilatation of intradural fluid channels, allowing them to be identified histologically. The risk of reflux of blood into the dura appears to reduce with age.
Authors: Maged D Fam; Andrea Potash; Martin Potash; Robert Robinson; Lucy Karnell; Erin O'Brien; Jeremy D W Greenlee Journal: J Neurol Surg B Skull Base Date: 2018-06-05