Using a Room-Temperature Plastination Technique in Assessing Prenatal Changes in the Human Spinal Cord

Abstract

This work examines the efficiency of a modified room-temperature plastination technique for preserving prenatal spinal cord morphology by assessing changes in prenatal cord length in human fetuses before and after plastination. Changes in cord length were correlated to fetal age, gender and ethnicity. Gross morphological features of the spinal cord preserved by this technique were clearly recognizable. Statistically significant shortening of spinal cords (p< 0.05) resulted when using this plastination technique. Differences in spinal cord and crown-rump lengths in relation to age were also significant. However, crown-rump length did not change significantly after plastination. Also, length changes in relation to gender and ethnicity were not significant.