Morphological comparison between adult spinal cord and fetus spinal cord

This study had been performated in Blacksea Technical University, Medical School, Department of Anatomy between September 1994 and June 1998. Morphological comparison between adult spinal cord and fetus spinal cord had been analyzed in this study. Specimens of spinal cord were obtained from the 20 human fetal cadaver who ranged in age 21,2 to 38,4 weeks and 15 adult human cadaver. Samples were stained by hematoxylin-eosin method and than B/T : W/T (The proportion of white matter to total area), G/B : G/W (The proportion of gray matter to white matter), M/G (The proportion of motor area to gray), O/G :A/G (The proportion of autonom area to gray matter), O/M : A/M (The proportion of autonom area to motor area) had been calculated. İn this study in which differences between the spinal cord of adult and fetus were discussed, result were found statistically significant. This stuation can be explained with motor system doesn't develop as much as autonom system in the fetus but in the adult both of them are active. In addition, presence of the plexus regions was also clearly revealed with the comparison of the segments. Key Words: Adult, Fetus, Morphology, Spinal Cord, Motor Area, Autonom Area, Gray Matter, White Matter