Measures of Ventricles and Evans' Index: From Neonate to Adolescent

Abstract

Ventricle sizes are important for the early diagnosis of hydrocephalus or for follow-up after ventriculostomy. Diameters of ventricles may change, especially in childhood. This study aims to provide normative data about ventricle diameters. Among 14,854 cranial MRI performed between 2011 and 2013, 2,755 images of Turkish children aged 0-18 years were obtained. After exclusions, 517 images were left. Four radiologists were trained by a pediatric radiologist. Twenty images were assessed by all radiologists for a pilot study to see that there was no interobserver variation. There were 10-22 children in each age group. The maximum width of the third ventricle was 5.54 ± 1.29 mm in males in age group 1 and 4.98 ± 1.08 mm in females in age group 2. The Evans' index was <0.3 and consistent with the literature. The third ventricle/basilar artery width ratio was found to be >1 and <2 in all age groups and both gender groups. Our study showed the ventricle size data of children in various age groups from newborn to adolescent. The ventricle volume/cerebral parenchyma ratio seems to decrease with age. We think that these data can be applied in clinical practice, especially for the early diagnosis of hydrocephalus.