A Morphometric Analysis of Fourth Ventrical of Human Cadaveric Brain by Plastination

The fourth ventricle enlarges in various conditions like hydrocephalus, dementias, mutism etc. So, it is necessary to know the normal range of dimensions of forth ventricle. Present study was conducted at anatomy Dept. P.D.U. medical college, Rajkot, Gujarat during October 2009 to October 2010. The casts of ventricular system of 20 formalinized cadaveric human brains were prepared after injecting epoxyresin+hardener (BOND TITE) mixture. From the cast, measurements of height (from upper end of impression of superior medullary valum to obex) and breadth (at the level of lateral recesses) of 4th ventricle were taken by vernier caliper. The data was analyzed statistically and was compared with the data obtained from radiological methods. In present study, the mean height of fourth ventricle 2.29 cm (range 1.9-2.7cm, S.D. 0.30) and mean breadth 2.38 cm (range 1.75-3 cm, S.D. 0.44). Present data differs significantly from data of radiological studies, which could be due to different methodologies, whereas the radiological methods are indirect and two dimensional; the present study with cast gives direct and three dimensional results without distorting the dimensions of fourth ventricle.