Prenatal human cranial development evaluated on coronal plane radiographs.

The purpose of the present investigation has been to analyse prenatal cranial base development in the coronal plane and to combine the findings with results in former reports on cranial base maturation estimated in the horizontal and sagittal planes. The study is based upon cranial bases of 26 human fetuses from the first half of the prenatal period. Fetal coronal plane cranial base tissue blocks were dissected, radiographed, and sectioned for microscopic examination. Five stages in cranial base development are defined and related to general parameters for fetal size and fetal maturation. Two different maturation patterns were recognized in the sphenoid corpus. Canal structures, remnants of the craniopharyngeal canal, were observed in specimens showing bilateral centers of ossification in the sphenoid corpus. The radiographic method used is easy to record and recommended for diagnosing prenatal and neonatal cranial malformations.