Radiology, Vol 144, 535-538, Copyright © 1982 by Radiological Society of North America
Volumetric measurements of the cerebrospinal fluid spaces in demented subjects and controls
M Gado, CP Hughes, W Danziger, D Chi, G Jost and L Berg
Forty-seven subjects 65 to 80 years of age, of whom 20 were demented and 27
were normal, were studied by computed tomography. Volumetric indices of
ventricular (V%) and sulcal size (S%) were determined by pixel counts
without knowledge of clinical status. V% was 5.30 (+/- 1.92) for the
controls and 10.46 (+/- 4.78) for the demented subjects. S% was 6.14 (+/-
2.51) for the controls and 10.61 (+/- 3.32) for the demented subjects. In
each case, differences between the two groups were significant (P less than
0.0001). When a subsample of 29 scans were analyzed using linear and
volumetric measurements, the linear measurements showed less pronounced
differences between the demented subjects and the controls. These findings
explain the conflicting results of different investigators concerning
variations in ventricular and sulcal size in dementia and normal aging.
