Morphometric development of the human fetal cerebellum during the early second trimester

The protracted nature of development makes the cerebellum vulnerable to a broad spectrum of pathologic conditions, especially during the early fetal period. This study aims to characterize normal cerebellar growth in human fetuses during the early second trimester. We manually segmented the fetal ce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 207; p. 116372
Main Authors: Xu, Feifei, Ge, Xinting, Shi, Yonggang, Zhang, Zhonghe, Tang, Yuchun, Lin, Xiangtao, Teng, Gaojun, Zang, Fengchao, Gao, Nuonan, Liu, Haihong, Toga, Arthur W., Liu, Shuwei
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15.02.2020
Elsevier Limited
Elsevier
Subjects:
Cerebellum
Cerebellum - pathology
Cerebrum
Female
Fetal brain development
Fetal Development - physiology
Fetuses
Gestational Age
Growth patterns
High-resolution MRI
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods
Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods
Infant
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Trimester, Second - physiology
Shape analysis
Studies
Cerebellum
High-resolution MRI
Fetal brain development
Shape analysis
ISSN:1053-8119, 1095-9572, 1095-9572
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The protracted nature of development makes the cerebellum vulnerable to a broad spectrum of pathologic conditions, especially during the early fetal period. This study aims to characterize normal cerebellar growth in human fetuses during the early second trimester. We manually segmented the fetal cerebellum using 7.0-T high-resolution MR images obtained in 35 specimens with gestational ages ranging from 15 to 22 weeks. Volume measurements and shape analysis were performed to quantitatively evaluate global and regional cerebellar growth. The absolute volume of the fetal cerebellum showed a quadratic growth with increasing gestational age, while the pattern of relative volume changes revealed that the cerebellum grew at a greater pace than the cerebrum after 17 gestational weeks. Shape analysis was used to examine the distinctive development of subregions of the cerebellum. The extreme lateral portions of both cerebellar hemispheres showed the lowest rate of growth. The anterior lobe grew faster than most of the posterior lobe. These findings expand our understanding of the early growth pattern of the human cerebellum and could be further used to assess the developmental conditions of the fetal brain. ●We manually segment the fetal cerebellum using 7.0-T MR images and specimens.●Quadratic increase of the absolute cerebellum volume.●Cerebellum with a greater pace of growth than cerebrum after 17 gestational weeks.●The extreme lateral portions of both hemispheres with the lowest rate of growth.●The anterior lobe of the cerebellum grows faster than most of the posterior lobe.
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F. Xu and X. Ge contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:1053-8119
1095-9572
1095-9572
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116372