Fujita S, Nakashima S, Sando I, Takahashi H
Elizabeth McCullough Knowles Otopathology Laboratory, Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA 15213.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 1994;251(7):434-8. doi: 10.1007/BF00181971.
Accurate measurements of the lengths and angles of the facial nerve were obtained in eight normal human temporal bones of varying ages from 7 days to 76 years. Measurements were made on serial histological sections, using computer-aided three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction. The most noteworthy of the findings demonstrated that both the mastoid portion of the facial nerve and the segment of the facial nerve between the second genu and the divergence of the chorda tympani nerve lengthened with age. The mastoid segment lengthened more significantly than the latter, indicating the facial canal grows more than the facial nerve in its mastoid portion. This difference in growth rates results in the site of the chorda tympani nerve divergence shifting with age relative to the stylomastoid foramen.
在8块年龄从7天至76岁不等的正常人类颞骨中，获得了面神经长度和角度的精确测量值。测量是在连续组织学切片上进行的，采用计算机辅助三维（3-D）重建技术。最值得注意的发现表明，面神经的乳突部以及面神经在第二膝状神经节与鼓索神经分叉之间的节段均随年龄增长而延长。乳突段的延长比后者更显著，这表明面神经管在其乳突部的生长超过了面神经。这种生长速率的差异导致鼓索神经分叉部位相对于茎乳孔随年龄发生移位。
