THE ELASTIC LAYER IN THE CEREBRAL VESSELS

Abstract

Few studies of the cerebral vessels of children have been reported. Some of these investigations have been confined to the physiologic development and others to the pathologic changes. In 1917, Binswanger and Schaxel¹ studied the cerebral vessels in a new-born infant and in persons from 30 to 40 and from 50 to 60 years of age. In the new-born, they found that the elastic layer is well developed in all the cerebral vessels except in the small arterioles. According to their opinion, the elastic layer continues to grow up to the age of 40, when retrogression takes place. In 1928, Hackel² made a systematic study of the vessels of the circle of Willis in groups of persons from birth to 50 years of age. He observed, as was suggested by Thoma,³ that the elastic layer of the large vessels is composed of two lamellae, a subendothelial and