Brain weight of Iranian population; the first report

Abstract

Objective Knowledge of the normal range of brain weight is a useful parameter in diagnosis of many pathological conditions. There are racial differences as well as other variables in any population affecting the brain weight. We conducted this study to determine the brain weight in healthy adult Iranian population among both sexes in order to formulate a standard reference range taking into account the variables of age, sex, weight, BMI and height. Materials & methods Prospective analysis of data from 1308 forensic autopsies of Iranian adults from 23 June 2008 to 22 June 2009 was performed. All subjects were Iranian adults dying of short survival injury time (<15 min) from unnatural deaths who showed no pathological changes. Results Brain weight, body weight, body height and BMI were evaluated in 1143 subjects, including 856 males and 287 females, ranging 16–88 years old. Brain weight in males and females was 1322.45 ± 117.05 and 1219.03 ± 127.85 gm respectively ( P = 0.001). A negative significant correlation between age and brain weight was seen in both sexes ( P = 0.001). Moreover, there was a positive significant correlation between body height and Brain weight in males and females ( P = 0.001). Conclusions The study indicated higher values in males than females. The observed correlation of brain weight with age, weight and body height was more prominent in females. The results revealed that body height and age in males and body height, weight and age in females may play a predictive role in estimation of brain weight.