Abstract
BackgroundDuring skull ontogenesis, growth centers in the skull base and calvarial bones allow gradual expansion of the cranial vault. Premature growth termination of cranial base synchondroses and/or calvarial sutures can result in devastating skull dysmorphologies. There is evidence to believe that a premature closure in one or more cranial growth centers contribute to the brachycephalic skull morphology in dogs. To provide a proof of concept for the non-invasive investigation of ontogenetic changes in cranial sutures and synchondroses in living dogs, we compared magnet resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) with histologic findings. Our aim was to determine the in vitro sensitivity and specificity for conventional clinical imaging methods in the assessment of cranial suture closure and synchondroses ossification in dogs.ResultsThe evaluation of cranial base synchondroses in MRI had a sensitivity of up to 93.1% and a specificity of 72.7% dependent on the observer. The evaluation of cranial base synchondroses in CT had a sensitivity of 92.2% and a specificity of 86.4%. Suture assessment on MRI suture assessment had a sensitivity of 82.1% dependent on the observer and a specificity of 19.3%. CT suture assessment had a sensitivity of 85.1% and a specificity of 40.4% in dependence of the observer.ConclusionConventional cross-sectional imaging techniques (MRI and CT) allow reliable assessment of the open or closed state of synchondroses within the cranial base. In contrast CT and MRI are not suitable for a reliable assessment of the cranial sutures in dogs.
Highlights
During skull ontogenesis, growth centers in the skull base and calvarial bones allow gradual expansion of the cranial vault
Analogous to endochondral growth plates in long bones, synchondroses of the skull base grow through ongoing chondrocyte proliferation and gradual osseous transformation allowing the expansion of the cranial base along its rostro-caudal axis [1, 2, 8]
Histology Due to the fragility of the structures, especially in very young puppies, twenty-two sutures and five synchondroses were lost during sample preparation. 433 sutures and 112 synchondroses could be histologically evaluated
Summary
Growth centers in the skull base and calvarial bones allow gradual expansion of the cranial vault. Premature growth termination of cranial base synchondroses and/or calvarial sutures can result in devastating skull dysmorphologies. There is evidence to believe that a premature closure in one or more cranial growth centers contribute to the brachycephalic skull morphology in dogs. Our aim was to determine the in vitro sensitivity and specificity for conventional clinical imaging methods in the assessment of cranial suture closure and synchondroses ossification in dogs. Analogous to endochondral growth plates in long bones, synchondroses of the skull base grow through ongoing chondrocyte proliferation and gradual osseous transformation allowing the expansion of the cranial base along its rostro-caudal axis [1, 2, 8]
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