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Nakagawa, Seneka (2014) Detailed structure of the venous drainage of the brain: relevance to accidental and non-accidental traumatic head injuries. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

This project aimed to prove the existence of fine subdural veins hypothesised to be the source of intracranial bleeding seen in cases of accidental and non-accidental traumatic head injuries, and consequently illustrate their anatomical structure. This was important in contributing towards establishing the causal mechanism for traumatic intracranial bleeding, and was particularly applicable in unexplained traumatic head injuries in cases of possible child abuse. These issues are on-going, worldwide concerns that have been of public as well as scientific concern for many years.

To illustrate the fine cerebral vessels, a unique modelling technique was recently developed involving polyurethane resin casting of the brain vasculature. Rat, marmoset, rhesus macaque and human brain tissue were all used. Tissue surrounding the resin perfused vessels were then either macerated to reveal the whole cast, or dissected to illustrate the cast as it would appear in situ. To allow analysis of these fine subdural vessels, various imaging techniques including fluorescence microscopy, light microscopy, confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, micro-computed tomography and 3D X-ray microscopy were used.

The existence of subdural vessels was clearly illustrated via gross dissection of both primate and cadaveric material. Fluorescence imaging of resin-filled rat brain histological sections also showed orientation of fine vessels within the subdural space. Magnetic resonance imaging of the human head in vivo, as well as cadaveric material have shown signs of small calibre vessels that have never been previously documented, that are too fine to be bridging veins, yet seem to drain into the superior sagittal sinus.

These results prove the existence of subdural vessels, present in a range of different species. Future work will further illustrate the exact morphological structure of these vessels, and biomechanical modelling will be applied to determine the exact forces required to cause them to rupture.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Parker, T.L. Jaspan, T.
Keywords:	Subdural vessels, Intracranial bleeding, Brain vasculature
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC 321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry W Medicine and related subjects (NLM Classification) > WL Nervous system
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Life Sciences
Item ID:	14443
Depositing User:	EP, Services
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2015 09:59
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2017 12:19
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/14443

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