Meng Stefan, Costa Luciano da F, Geyer Stefan H, Viana Matheus P, Reiter Christian, Müller Gerd B, Weninger Wolfgang J
IMG, Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and Department of Radiology, Karl-Franz-Joseph-Spital, Vienna, Austria.
J Anat. 2008 May;212(5):636-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00881.x. Epub 2008 Apr 7.
Inside the 'cavernous sinus' or 'parasellar region' the human internal carotid artery takes the shape of a siphon that is twisted and torqued in three dimensions and surrounded by a network of veins. The parasellar section of the internal carotid artery is of broad biological and medical interest, as its peculiar shape is associated with temperature regulation in the brain and correlated with the occurrence of vascular pathologies. The present study aims to provide anatomical descriptions and objective mathematical characterizations of the shape of the parasellar section of the internal carotid artery in human infants and its modifications during ontogeny. Three-dimensional (3D) computer models of the parasellar section of the internal carotid artery of infants were generated with a state-of-the-art 3D reconstruction method and analysed using both traditional morphometric methods and novel mathematical algorithms. We show that four constant, demarcated bends can be described along the infant parasellar section of the internal carotid artery, and we provide measurements of their angles. We further provide calculations of the curvature and torsion energy, and the total complexity of the 3D skeleton of the parasellar section of the internal carotid artery, and compare the complexity of this in infants and adults. Finally, we examine the relationship between shape parameters of the parasellar section of the internal carotid artery in infants, and the occurrence of intima cushions, and evaluate the reliability of subjective angle measurements for characterizing the complexity of the parasellar section of the internal carotid artery in infants. The results can serve as objective reference data for comparative studies and for medical imaging diagnostics. They also form the basis for a new hypothesis that explains the mechanisms responsible for the ontogenetic transformation in the shape of the parasellar section of the internal carotid artery.
在“海绵窦”或“鞍旁区域”内，人类颈内动脉呈虹吸状，在三维空间中扭曲成一定的形状，并被静脉网络所环绕。颈内动脉的鞍旁段具有广泛的生物学和医学研究价值，因为其独特的形状与大脑的温度调节有关，且与血管病变的发生相关。本研究旨在提供人类婴儿颈内动脉鞍旁段形状的解剖学描述和客观的数学特征，并研究其在个体发育过程中的变化。利用先进的三维重建方法生成了婴儿颈内动脉鞍旁段的三维计算机模型，并使用传统的形态测量方法和新颖的数学算法进行分析。我们发现，沿着婴儿颈内动脉鞍旁段可以描述出四个恒定的、有明确界限的弯曲，并给出了它们的角度测量值。我们还进一步计算了曲率和扭转能量，以及颈内动脉鞍旁段三维骨架的总复杂度，并比较了婴儿和成人的这一复杂度。最后，我们研究了婴儿颈内动脉鞍旁段形状参数与内膜垫出现之间的关系，并评估了主观角度测量在表征婴儿颈内动脉鞍旁段复杂度方面的可靠性。这些结果可为比较研究和医学影像诊断提供客观的参考数据。它们还为一个新的假说奠定了基础，该假说解释了颈内动脉鞍旁段形状个体发育转变的机制。
