Wan Ahmed, Wan Aireene
(2015)
MR volumetric study of cerebellum related to age ang sex.
Masters thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
Introduction:
The advancement of MRI techniques has open up many neuroanatomical
studies of normal brain growth and atrophy. Numerous neurological and
neuropsychiatric disorders, which can cause changes in cerebellum volumes
have been identified particularly epilepsy, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s dementia,
depression and autism among others. Investigations of aging effects on the
cerebellum are important, not only to understand normal aging process, but also
for comparative study of the pathophysiology of degenerative brain disorders.
Sex differences in gross cerebellar neuroanatomy have been observed in
several studies. Currently there is no normative data of MR cerebellum
volumetry available for Malaysian population.
Objectives:
The general objective for this study is to determine the age and sex difference
of the volume of cerebellum in healthy volunteers.
Methods and materials:
This was a cross sectional study involving 164 subjects who underwent MRI.
The age of the subjects ranged from 7 to 77 years old. MRI was performed
using Signa Horison LX 1.0 Tesla scanner by General Electric. MRI images
were obtained in T1 sagittal sections with 5milimeter thickness with 2-millimeter
gap. Cerebellum volumes were measured using manually traced slice volumetry
method. The mean (SD) of total cerebellum volume was calculated and
analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20.
Anatomical boundaries for cerebellum volumetry done with manual
tracing. Normalization of cerebellum volume with intracranial volume was done
by using co-variance methods introduced by Jack et al. (1989). Manual tracing
using alternate slice method was utilized in obtaining intracranial volume as
described by Eritaia et al. (2000). Image display and manual tracing of the
cerebellum and intracranial areas were performed using Osirix software
ver.3.7.1 (Pixmeo Sarl). Data was compiled and analyzed using PASW Statistic
ver.18 (SPSS Inc.).
Results:
The overall mean normalized cerebellar volume is 181.1 ± 24.8 cm3. When
analyzed separately among gender, normalized cerebellar volume was
significantly higher in male (p value= 0.035; 95% +- CI). There is a statistically
significant negative correlation between age and total cerebellum volume (r is -
0.492). Cerebellar volume becomes smaller at older age with moderate to good
correlation.
Conclusion:
The study provided a reference data of cerebellar volumes in original and
normalized formats for normal Kelantan population for a valuable reference in
many physiological and pathological conditions for local population. The mean
normalized cerebellar volume was statistically significant in genders with larger
volumes in male subjects. They also had larger intracranial volumes than
female. There is significant relationship between normalized cerebellum volume
with age.
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