Cerebrospinal Fluid and Parenchymal Brain Development and Growth in the Healthy Fetus

The objective of this study was to apply quantitative magnetic resonance imaging to characterize absolute cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) development, as well as its relative development to fetal brain parenchyma in the healthy human fetus.Design: We created three-dimensional high-resolution reconstructions of the developing brain for healthy fetuses between 18 and 40 weeks' gestation, segmented the parenchymal and CSF spaces, and calculated the volumes for the lateral, third, and fourth ventricles; extra-axial CSF space; and the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem. From these data, we constructed normograms of the resulting volumes according to gestational age and described the relative development of CSF to fetal brain parenchyma.Results: Each CSF space demonstrated major increases in volumetric growth during the second half of gestation: third ventricle (23-fold), extra-axial CSF (11-fold), fourth ventricle (8-fold), and lateral ventricle (2-fold). Total CSF volume was related to total brain volume (p
Source: Developmental Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research