Neural-Dural Transition at the Thoracic and Lumbar Spinal Nerve Roots: A Histological Study of Human Late-Stage Fetuses

Figure 3

Thoracic and lumbar nerve roots in a fetus with a crown-rump length (CRL) of 235 mm. (a) and (b) (different sections with a 1-mm interval) display the left second thoracic nerve (lt T2) and its concomitant radicular artery (RA), which exhibited a pocket-like protrusion (arrowheads) of the meningeal layer of the dura (dura). A continuation of the dura (arrows) surrounds the nerve root and continues to a sheath (stars) of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG). (c) also exhibits the pocket-like protrusion (arrowheads) of the dura for the right first thoracic nerve (rt T1) and its concomitant RA. The dura continues to a nerve sheath (arrows). (d), including the right second–fourth lumbar nerves, shows a bilobule configuration of the dorsal nerve ganglia. The stars indicate the sheaths of the ganglion. The asterisks in (d) indicate tissue that was damaged during the histological procedure. All scale bars, 1 mm.