Imperial College London
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Dr Niamh Nowlan

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering

Visiting Reader
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5189n.nowlan Website

 
 
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Location

 

4.10Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Nowlan:2017:10.1002/jor.23518,
author = {Nowlan, NC and Rolfe, RA and Iatridis, JC and Oyen, ML and Bezer, JH and Zaidon, AZ and Kim, T},
doi = {10.1002/jor.23518},
journal = {Journal of Orthopaedic Research},
pages = {2135--2144},
title = {Abnormal fetal muscle forces result in defects in spinal curvature and alterations in vertebral segmentation and shape},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jor.23518},
volume = {35},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The incidence of congenital spine deformities, including congenital scoliosis, kyphosis and lordosis, may be influenced by the in utero mechanical environment, and particularly by fetal movements at critical time-points. There is a limited understanding of the influence of fetal movements on spinal development, despite the fact that mechanical forces have been shown to play an essential role in skeletal development of the limb. This study investigates the effects of muscle forces on spinal curvature, vertebral segmentation and vertebral shape by inducing rigid or flaccid paralysis in the embryonic chick. The critical time-points for the influence of fetal movements on spinal development were identified by varying the time of onset of paralysis. Prolonged rigid paralysis induced severe defects in the spine, including curvature abnormalities, posterior and anterior vertebral fusions and altered vertebral shape, while flaccid paralysis did not affect spinal curvature or vertebral segmentation. Early rigid paralysis resulted in more severe abnormalities in the spine than later rigid paralysis. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that the timing and nature of fetal muscle activity are critical influences on the normal development of the spine, with implications for the understanding of congenital spine deformities.
AU  - Nowlan,NC
AU  - Rolfe,RA
AU  - Iatridis,JC
AU  - Oyen,ML
AU  - Bezer,JH
AU  - Zaidon,AZ
AU  - Kim,T
DO  - 10.1002/jor.23518
EP  - 2144
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 1554-527X
SP  - 2135
TI  - Abnormal fetal muscle forces result in defects in spinal curvature and alterations in vertebral segmentation and shape
T2  - Journal of Orthopaedic Research
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jor.23518
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/43822
VL  - 35
ER  -
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