Development of the sacral and coccygeal parts of vertebral column in the prefetal period of human prenatal ontogenesis

Abstract

Objective – to investigate morphogenesis and peculiarities of the chronological sequence of formation of the vertebral column topography during the prefetal period of human ontogenesis.Material and methods. The study was conducted using the macroscopy and microscopy of series of consecutive histological and topographic anatomical sections, regular and fine specimen preparation, graphic and plastic reconstructions, vascular injection with subsequent radiography, morphometry (digital computer histometry) and statistical processing of digital data. The specific characteristics of the forming and development of the sacral portion of the spinal cord have been studied, the syntopic correlation interrelations with the adjacent structures have been defined on 75 embryos and prefetuses, as w ell as 70 specimens of fetuses and new borns.Results. The accurate study of morphogenesis and dynamics of spatiotemporal relationships between the vertebrae of the cervical and thoracic regions of the human vertebral column and their connections during the prefetal period of development from the point of view of the topographicanatomical approach to the problems of embryogenesis was done for the first time, with the aid of adequate morphological methods.Conclusion. The theoretical basis and a new solution to the scientific problem concerning the formation and topographic-anatomical relationships of the structures of the vertebral column in the prefetal period of human ontogenesis, the dynamics of spatial and temporal transformations of the parts of the vertebral column, syntopic correlation with adjacent structures were given.