Assessing autolyzed foetal brains

Abstract

Problem:

Evaluating very soft foetal brains is problematic, since anatomic information is often lost when these collapse on a dissection board.

Methods:

Present cases of very soft foetal brains photographed under water, discuss technical details on this technique, and indicate how these data can be used to evaluate the brains.

Results:

Foetal brains from intrauterine foetal deaths and from foetal terminations that have a long death-to-delivery time are often very soft, even after fixation, and collapse under their own weight on a dissection board. To better evaluate these brains, they have been floated and photographed in water. When possible, the brain is photographed intact in ventral and dorsal views. After the brainstem with cerebellum is removed and hemispheres are separated, these are all photographed; hemispheres are imaged in both lateral and medial views. This technique records developmental data about cortical gyration, the presence of olfactory tracts/bulbs, corpus callosum posterior extension, cerebellum foliation, and brainstem, which can be compared to standard brain development references. Problems with this technique include fragmentation of autolyzed brain into water.

Discussions:

Photography of very soft foetal brains under water allows evaluation of brains that normally collapse under their own weight. In cases too soft for meaningful dissection, these data often provide the only available brain developmental information.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This presentation will enable the learner to:

1. 1. Photograph foetal brain under water

2. 2. Evaluate key aspects of external examination using standard developmental literature