Journal article
Skull Base Dural Thickness and Relationship to Demographic Features: A Postmortem Study and Literature Review
Journal of neurological surgery. Part B, Skull base, Vol.79(6), pp.614-620
12/2018
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1651501
PMCID: PMC6239876
PMID: 30456033
Abstract
Dural membrane is an important anatomic structure that surrounds and protects the entire central nervous system. Physical properties of the dura have many pathophysiological and therapeutic implications in cranial surgery, especially skull base disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate variation in skull base dural thickness and correlation with different demographic parameters. At the time of autopsy, the petrous apex dura with the underlying bone of 20 cadavers was harvested. Dural thickness was independently measured by two pathologists at the thinnest and thickest segments in the specimen. Correlational analyses were then performed to compare dural thickness with gender, age, neck circumference, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). Mean, minimum, and maximum skull base dural thickness in our study was 0.36, 0.27, and 0.46 mm, respectively. Age demonstrated a negative correlation with dural thickness with significantly thinner dura in the older subjects,
p
= 0.01. There was a trend toward thinner dura in females that approached statistical significance,
p
= 0.06. No strong correlation could be found with body weight, height, neck circumference, or BMI. Our findings show a considerable intersubject and intrasubject variability in skull base dural thickness. Some demographic parameters also seem to impact dural thickness. Additional histological studies are needed for better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms pertaining to the tensile properties of the dural membrane.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Skull Base Dural Thickness and Relationship to Demographic Features: A Postmortem Study and Literature Review
- Creators
- Maged D Fam - Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, United StatesAndrea Potash - Department of Otolaryngology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, United StatesMartin Potash - Department of Pathology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, United StatesRobert Robinson - Department of Pathology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, United StatesLucy Karnell - Department of Otolaryngology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, United StatesErin O'Brien - Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United StatesJeremy D. W Greenlee - Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of neurological surgery. Part B, Skull base, Vol.79(6), pp.614-620
- Publisher
- Georg Thieme Verlag KG; Stuttgart · New York
- DOI
- 10.1055/s-0038-1651501
- PMID
- 30456033
- PMCID
- PMC6239876
- ISSN
- 2193-6331
- eISSN
- 2193-634X
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/2018
- Academic Unit
- Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine; Stead Family Department of Pediatrics; Pathology; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neurosurgery; Otolaryngology
- Record Identifier
- 9984040271402771
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