Abstract:

Introduction. It is necessary to clearly understand the norms of morphometric parameters of thorax during the fetal period of human ontogenesis, which is one of the main directions to solve the problem of modern normology. Objective. To trace the dynamics of changes of morphometric parameters of the bony thorax in human fetuses aged 7-10 months. Materials and methods. The anatomical study involved 39 human fetuses specimens of 231.0-375.0 mm of crown-rump length (CRL). The study was conducted by means of macro-microscopic preparation, morphometry and variation statistics method. Results. It was found that the length of the costal cartilage increases from rib I to VII and is the longest in the rib VII. The ribs are the highest along the midclavicular line. At the same time, the height of the ribs decreases along the posterior axillary line and becomes the shortest along the scapular line. It was revealed the greatest width of the II and III intercostal spaces along the parasternal and midclavicular lines. The width of the four superior intercostal spaces along the midclavicular line on the right and on the left is larger than the height of the corresponding ribs. The width of the II-X intercostal spaces on the right and on the left along the scapular lines exceeds the height of the corresponding ribs in 1.33-1.65 times. The greatest width of the II, IV and VII intercostal spaces was along the posterior axillary line both sided. The greatest width of the II, IV and X of the intercostal spaces was noted along the scapular lines. Conclusions. The length of the costal cartilage increases from rib I to VII and is the largest in VII ones. The smallest value of the length of the costal cartilage was found in the rib XII. During the 7th-10th months of the intrauterine development, an intensive increase in the length of costal cartilages of the ribs I-III occurs, on average, by 1.5 times, and there is a slow increase in the length of the costal cartilage of the rib VII. The ribs along the midclavicular line are the highest. At the same time, the height of the ribs decreases along the posterior axillary line and along the scapular line it is the lowest. Keywords: skeleton of the thorax, ribs, intercostal spaces, fetuses.

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