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Age-related changes in lateral ventricle morphology in craniosynostotic rabbits using magnetic resonance imaging

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Abstract

Background and aims

Craniosynostosis occurs in 300–500 per 1,000,000 live births and results in secondary craniofacial, ocular, and intracranial anomalies. Neurologic problems associated with craniosynostosis include changes in intracranial morphology such as dilation of the cerebral ventricles, however, clinical studies are confounded by small sample sizes, heterogenous samples, and lack of age-matched controls. The present study was designed to assess age-related changes in the lateral ventricle volume of the brain in normal rabbits and rabbits with naturally-occurring coronal suture synostosis using serial magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods

Eighteen rabbits (6 wild-type controls, 6 with early-onset [∼21 days gestation], and 6 with delayed-onset [∼25 days post-gestation] coronal suture synostosis) had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 10, 25, and 42 days of age.

Results

The results demonstrate that rabbits with early-onset synostosis had significantly (p<0.001) dilated and larger lateral ventricles (by 77% at 10 days of age) than wild-type and delayed-onset synostosis rabbits, which progressively worsened by day 42.

Conclusion

This finding suggests that uncorrected coronal suture synostosis may have early effects on lateral ventricle volume hypertrophy, possibly through obstructed cerebrospinal fluid and/or venous drainage and circulation.

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Acknowledgements

Support for this study came from grants from the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and NIH/NIDCR (DE13078) to the Center for Craniofacial Development and Disorders, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. The Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Health (P41EB001977).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Wendy Fellows-Mayle & Kotaro Nakaya

  2. Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    T. Kevin Hitchens, Elena Simplaceanu & Joyce Horner

  3. Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Timothy Barbano, Michael I. Siegel & Mark P. Mooney

  4. Division of Pediatric Plastic Surgery and Pittsburgh Cleft-Craniofacial Center, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Joseph E. Losee & Mark P. Mooney

  5. Department of Plastic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27519, USA

    H. Wolfgang Losken

  6. Department of Orthodontics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Michael I. Siegel & Mark P. Mooney

  7. Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Mark P. Mooney

Authors
  1. Wendy Fellows-Mayle
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  2. T. Kevin Hitchens
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  3. Elena Simplaceanu
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  4. Joyce Horner
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  5. Timothy Barbano
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  6. Kotaro Nakaya
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  7. Joseph E. Losee
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  8. H. Wolfgang Losken
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  9. Michael I. Siegel
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  10. Mark P. Mooney
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wendy Fellows-Mayle.

Additional information

This study was approved by the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

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Fellows-Mayle, W., Hitchens, T.K., Simplaceanu, E. et al. Age-related changes in lateral ventricle morphology in craniosynostotic rabbits using magnetic resonance imaging. Childs Nerv Syst 21, 385–391 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-004-1107-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-004-1107-z

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