Three‐dimensional imaging of palatal muscles in the human embryo and fetus: Development of levator veli palatini and clinical importance of the lesser palatine nerve

Abstract

Background: After palatoplasty, incomplete velopharyngeal closure in speech articulation sometimes persists, despite restoration of deglutition function. The levator veli palatini (LVP) is believed to be significantly involved with velopharyngeal function in articulation; however, the development and innervation of LVP remain obscure. The development of LVP in human embryos and fetuses has not been systematically analyzed using the Carnegie stage (CS) to standardize documentation of development. Results: The anlage of LVP starts to develop at CS 21 beneath the aperture of the auditory tube (AT) to the pharynx. At CS 23, LVP runs along AT over its full length, as evidenced by three-dimensional image reconstruction. In the fetal stage, the lesser palatine nerve (LPN) is in contact with LVP. Conclusions: The positional relationship between LVP and AT threedimensionally, suggesting that LVP might be derived from the second branchial arch. Based on histological evidence, we hypothesize that motor components from the facial nerve may run along LPN, believed to be purely sensory. The multiple innervation of LVP by LPN and pharyngeal plexus may explain the postpalatoplasty discrepancy between the partial impairment in articulation vs. the functional restoration of deglutition. That is, the contribution of LPN is greater in articulation than in deglutition. Developmental Dynamics 245:123-131, 2016. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantitation of nasal development in the early prenatal period using geometric morphometrics and MRI: a new insight into the critical period of Binder phenotype

“…Therefore, the existing precious specimens should be kept intact during morphometric analysis. Improvements in medical imaging modalities have allowed the accurate assessment of specimens without dissection . Among the various imaging modalities, we used MRI to observe the small and soft structures of the specimens.…”

“…Since 1961, a large number of human conceptuses have been kept in the Congenital Anomaly Research Center at Kyoto University; this is called the Kyoto Collection . Among these, specimens without any distinct congenital anomalies and artificial deformities in the face were selected for the present study.…”

“…Since 1961, a large number of human conceptuses have been kept in the Congenital Anomaly Research Center at Kyoto University; this is called the Kyoto Collection. [26][27][28][29][30] Among these, specimens without any distinct congenital anomalies and artificial deformities in the face were selected for the present study. A total of 56 specimens, including 3 specimens of human embryos (Carnegie stages 22 and 23) and 53 specimens of human fetuses with crown-rump length (CRL) ranging from 22 to 225 mm were selected.…”

“…Improvements in medical imaging modalities have allowed the accurate assessment of specimens without dissection. [28][29][30]41,42 Among the various imaging modalities, we used MRI to observe the small and soft structures of the specimens. With reconstruction of the arbitrary plane images from MRI data, we could perform morphometric analysis much more precisely than that in previous reports.…”

3D Analysis of Human Embryos and Fetuses Using Digitized Datasets From the Kyoto Collection

“… [1] Nakashima et al , [2] Kobayashi et al , [3–5] Shiraishi et al , [6] Shiraishi et al , [7] Taketani et al , [8] Yoshida et al, in press, [9] Takakuwa et al, , [10] Mehemed et al, , [11] Kishimoto et al, , [12,13] Toyoda et al, , [14] Kagurasho et al, , [15] Ozeki‐Sato et al, a, [16] Ozeki‐Sato et al, , [17] Osaka et al, , [18] Ueno et al, , [19] Kaigai et al, . [20] Nako et al, , [21] Ueda et al, , [22,23] Hirose et al, , 2016, [24] Hamabe et al, , [25] Kanahashi et al, , [26] Endo et al, , [27] Takakuwa et al, , [28] Shiraishi et al, .…”