Fetal intracranial structures: differences in size according to sex
-
Ebru Celik Kavak
,
Salih Burcin Kavak
,
Cengiz Sanli
,
Ibrahim Batmaz
,
Seren Ozden
und
Ekrem Sapmaz
Abstract
Objectives
We aimed to compare gender difference on sizes of some structures in the brain of normal male and female fetuses between 20 and 22 week gestations.
Methods
A total of 300 female and 300 male singleton pregnancies with low risk were included in the study. Biparietal diameter, head circumference, transcerebellar diameter, cisterna magna, nuchal fold thickness, anterior and posterior horn of lateral ventricles, length and width of cavum septum pellucidum were measured transabdominally. Mean±SD values were calculated and comparison of measurements were done between male and female fetuses. Kolmogorov–Smirnov and independent samples t-test were used for statistical analysis. A value of p<0.05 were accepted as statistically significant.
Results
We determined statistically significant difference in sizes of some structures of the brain of male and female fetuses. Mean±SD value of cavum septi pellucidi width was 3.38±0.61 and 3.85±0.96 in female and males, respectively (p<0.05). Male fetuses were also found to have larger anterior (1.92±0.30 vs. 1.58±0.26, p<0.0001) and posterior horn of lateral ventricles (6.00±0.87 vs. 5.53±1.17, p<0.05).
Conclusions
Difference in sizes of some structures of the brain starts in fetal life. This finding may be important in evaluating the intracranial structures more precisely. These results may also give a contribution to the understanding physiological and pathologic differences between males and females.
Research funding: None declared.
Author contributions: ECK and SBK contributed to the conception and design of the study; ECK, SBK, CS, SO and IB contributed to the acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data; ECK, SBK, and ES were responsible for drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content; ECK, SBK, and ES gave final approval of the version to be published. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Disclosure statement: The study was conducted in the perinatology outpatient clinic of Firat University Hospital. The ultrasonography device was provided by Firat University Hospital.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Ethical approval: The research related to human use has been complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies and is in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration and has been approved by the Elazig Firat Local Research Ethics Committee.
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© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
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- Original Articles – Obstetrics
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- Short Communication
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Neonatal lupus erythematosus – practical guidelines
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Optimal timing to screen for asymptomatic bacteriuria during pregnancy: first vs. second trimester
- Amniotic fluid embolism – implementation of international diagnosis criteria and subsequent pregnancy recurrence risk
- COL1A1, COL4A3, TIMP2 and TGFB1 polymorphisms in cervical insufficiency
- Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of twin pregnancies – the role of maternal age
- Comparison of maternal third trimester hemodynamics between singleton pregnancy and twin pregnancy
- Daily monitoring of vaginal interleukin 6 as a predictor of intraamniotic inflammation after preterm premature rupture of membranes – a new method of sampling studied in a prospective multicenter trial
- Association between the number of pulls and adverse neonatal/maternal outcomes in vacuum-assisted delivery
- Original Articles – Fetus
- The effect of nuchal umbilical cord on fetal cardiac and cerebral circulation-cross-sectional study
- Recognition of facial expression of fetuses by artificial intelligence (AI)
- Correlation of first-trimester thymus size with chromosomal anomalies
- Fetal intracranial structures: differences in size according to sex
- Original Articles – Neonates
- Antenatal care and perinatal outcomes of asylum seeking women and their infants
- Maturation of the cardiac autonomic regulation system, as function of gestational age in a cohort of low risk preterm infants born between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation
- Short Communication
- The impact of transfers from neonatal intensive care to paediatric intensive care
- Letter to the Editor
- Differential microRNA expression in placentas of small-for-gestational age neonates with and without exposure to poor maternal gestational weight gain
