Morphological features of the human dura mater in elderly and senile age

Abstract

A fairly common trauma in the population of developed and developing countries is traumatic brain injury, with a significant proportion of patients of the elderly and senile age due to objective reasons. However, anatomical and morphological features of the dura mater (DM) are extremely poorly covered in the scientific medical literature. The aim of the study was to investigate the age-related features of the structure and thickness of the dura mater of a person in the elderly and senile age.Material and methods. The work was based on the analysis of the results of a comprehensive morphological examination of the DM of 127 deceased (65 men and 62 women) of adolescent, elderly and senile age. Autopsy material was taken from the parietal bones in the projection of the sagittal suture. Hematoxylin and eosin and van Gieson staining was used. The thickness of the DM was determined.Results. The age morphometric features of DM consist in its statistically significant increase in its thickness in both sexes (p < 0.01). The most pronounced changes are in senile age compared to adolescent: men have 60.7 % more thickness (p < 0.01) and women 63.5 % (p < 0.01). There are no statistically significant differences in the thickness of the DM between men and women in each age period studied (p > 0.05).Conclusions. The results of the study can serve as a foundation for the future study of age-related changes in the human DM, as well as for use by physicians of such clinical specialties as forensic medicine, neurosurgery, trauma and rehabilitation, gerontology.

Keywords

• traumatic brain injury
• subdural hematoma
• dura mater
• adolescence
• elderly
• senile age
• collagen