Structural and functional characteristics of the intervertebral disks of infants in the 1st year of life
Pavlova, M.N.; Pogozheva, T.I.
Arkhiv Anatomii Gistologii i Embriologii 79(11): 91-98
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-1947 PMID: 7458700 Document Number: 156901
By means of the transmissive microscopic method, rearrangement of the intervertebral discs (ID) has been studied in children at early postnatal period, with special reference to changes in physiological loading on the spinal column when the infant acquires vertical position. Due to substitution of the fibroblastic cells by the cartilaginous ones with an active synthesis of glycosamineglycans and their secretion into the ground substance, hydration and turgor of the nucleus pulposus are provided. By the end of the first year, an initial stage of the collagenous fibrils formation can be observed in the nucleus pulposus. During the first months, cellular composition of the ID is essentially changed. In all parts of the disc the number of actively secreting cells is increasing. Tissue consolidation, increasing volume of the fibrous ring and turgor of the hydrated nucleus pulposus ensure increasing loading on the spinal column at the child's walking.