Planar single plane area determination is a viable substitute for total volumetry of CSF and brain in childhood hydrocephalus.

BACKGROUND: In the treatment of childhood hydrocephalus, 3D volumetry seems to have many advantages over classical planar index measurements for dedicated monitoring of changes in cerebrospinal fluid and brain volume. Nevertheless, this method requires extensive technical effort and access to the complete three-dimensional data set. Against this background, we evaluated the possibility of planar area determination in a single plane and the correlation to volumetry. METHODS: 138 routinely performed true FISP MRI sequences (1 mm isovoxel) were analyzed retrospectively in 68 patients with pediatric hydrocephalus. After preprocessing, the 3D-data sets were skull stripped to estimate the inner skull volume. A 2-class segmentation into different tissue types (brain matter and CSF) was performed, and the volumes of CSF (VCSF) and brain matter (VBrain) were calculated. A plane at the level of the foramina of Monro was manually identified in the ac-pc oriented data. In this plane, the areas of brain (ABrain) and CSF (ACSF) in cm2 were calculated and used for further correlation analysis. RESULTS: Mean VCSF was 340 ± 145 cm3 and VBrain 1173 ± 254 cm3. In the selected plane, ACSF was 26 ± 14 cm2, and ABrain was 107 ± 25 cm2. There was a very strong positive correlation between both ACSF and VCSF (r = 0.895) and between ABrain and VBrain (r = 0.846). The prediction equations for VBrain and VCSF were highly significant. CONCLUSION: Planar area determination of brain and CSF correlates excellently with both VCSF and VBrain. Thus, areas can serve as a surrogate marker for total brain and CSF volumes for a quantitated objective tracking of changes during treatment of childhood hydrocephalus.