Morphogenesis of the epidural space in humans during the embryonic and early fetal periods.

The development of the epidural space was studied on 51 series of sections from embryos and early fetuses aged from four to 13 weeks using histological and embryological methods for plastic and graphic reconstruction. We found that three stages can be discriminated in the development of the epidural space: I) the primary epidural space (embryos of 16-31 mm crown-rump length (CRL); II) reduction of the primary epidural space (embryos of 35-55 mm CRL); and III) the secondary epidural space (embryos of 60-70 mm CRL and fetuses of 80-90 mm CRL). The morphogenesis of the primary epidural space is determined by the formative influence of the spinal cord and its dura mater, while that of the secondary epidural space is determined by the walls of the vertebral canal. In the spinal cord-dura mater of the spinal cord-vertebral canal correlation system, the latter two components, subjected to the inducing influence of the first, determine the morphogenesis of the epidural space via a system of morphogenetic correlations. The correlational relationships are apparent as time-linked connections between the rudiment of the dura mater of the spinal cord and the vertebral canal, resulting in the stage-by-stage formation of the epidural space in the ventrodorsal and craniocaudal directions. These same morphogenetic correlations also determine the staging of the development of the epidural space.