Development of the Head and Neck 1 Flashcards
What does the fetal skull have, that the adult skull doesn’t?
Fontanelles
What are fontanelles?
Membranous areas of unfused skull
When will the fontanelles be closed?
Within the first 2 years of life
What is the function of fontanelles?
- Flexibility allows passage through the birth canal
- Allow for brain growth
What changes in the fontanelles can indicate pathology?
- Sunken
- Bulging
- Enlarged
What do sunken fontanelles indicate?
Dehydration
What do bulging fontanelles indicate?
Increased intracranial pressure
When do enlarged fontanelles often occur?
In prematurity
What is the problem with enlarged fontanelles?
They can squash the brain, causing brain damage
When does the neural tube form?
Week 3
How is the neural tube formed?
- The notocord is formed at gastrulation
- The notocord sends signals causing the overlying ectoderm to thicken
- Edges of the ectoderm elevate out of slipper-shaped neural plate, out of the plane of the disc
- Edges curl towards one another, creating neural tube
What happens to the anterior end of the neural tube?
It begins to form the brain
Describe the anterior end of the neural tube when it’s beginning to form brain?
Initially in 3 vesicle stage, and vesicles quickly specialise
What do the vesicles of the neural tube specialise to form?
- Prosencephalon - forebrain
- Mesencephalon - midbrain
- Rhombencephalon - hindbrain
What has happened to the embryo by the end of week 4?
It has folded
What helps to fold the embryo?
The growth of the neural tube
What does folding of the embryo create?
Primitive gut tube
Does the primitive gut tube include the primitive pharynx?
Yes
What is the primitive gut tube lined with?
Endoderm
Describe the head and neck region of the embryo early in week 4?
- Face has no distinguishing external features
- Head and neck represent half the length of the embryo
- There is an open pore in the neural tube cranially and caudally, which is fusing from the middle upwards
Where does the pharynx extend in the adult?
From the base of the skull to the inferior border of the cricoid cartilage of the larynx
What are the divisions of the pharynx?
- Nasal
- Oral
- Laryngeal
Where is the nasopharynx?
Superior to the soft palate
Where is the oropharynx?
Between the soft palate and the larynx