QUANTIFICATION OF THE COLLAGEN FIBER ARCHITECTURE OF HUMAN CRANIAL DURA-MATER

The purpose of this study was to quantify and map the gross fibre arch itecture of the cranial dura mater (CDM) using small angle light scatt ering (SALS). In SALS, HeNe laser light is passed through the tissue, and the resultant scattering pattern is analysed to determine the pref erred fibre direction and degree of orientation. The dura mater was fo und to be a complex structure with fibre orientations ranging from hig hly aligned to nearly random. In the temporal region, 80% of the sampl es (n = 20) were found to have regions composed of highly oriented fib res with a mean fibre direction of 6.3 degrees+/-0.8 degrees with resp ect to the sagittal plane (i.e. almost parallel to the superior sagitt al sinus). These highly aligned regions were found in symmetric anatom ical locations about the median sagittal sinus and had similar fibre o rientations over both hemispheres. Although our sample size was small, we found that the size of the symmetric regions, which covered 14.4+/ -1.6% of the total CDM area, was not influenced by subject's age or se x. The presence of these highly oriented fibre regions in CDM may be d ue to mechanical forces exerted on dura mater during its development. These forces may have induced realignment of the collagen fibres in th e direction of tensile pull, although the exact basis for the unique g ross fibre architecture of CDM remains unknown.