In 400 embryos and fetuses of domestic animals and men, prenatal development of the cerebral vessels and ventricles was examined by postmortem arteriography, phlebography, microradiography, and ventriculography. In the ventricular system, qualitative and quantitative changes could be demonstrated and developmental diagrams of the growing ventricular spaces and angles were elaborated. The differentiation of the aortic arches into the major cranial arteries and the complex transformations of the cerebral venous system were documented by angiography within a period of gestation of 4 weeks up to term. Intrauterine angiography was also carried out in living fetuses of cats as preliminary studies of the development of cerebrovascular malformations.
Only rarely have radiological methods been applied to the study of prenatal development of the brain [3], although microradiographic techniques are used extensively for the demonstration of cerebrovascular patterns in the adult [1, 4,5]. In order to carry out systematic and comparative studies of cerebral development, several microradiographic techniques were elaborated and adapted to the special conditions of the soft and vulnerable embryonic tissue [10]. In addition to combined postmortem radiographic, anatomic, and histologic examinations, in utero angiography was carried out in living fetal cats for the study of hemodynamic conditions.