Morphological evaluation of the normal and hydrocephalic third ventricle on cranial magnetic resonance imaging in children: A retrospective study

Abstract

Background Third ventricle morphological changes reflect changes in the ventricular system in pediatric hydrocephalus, so visual inspection of the third ventricle shape is standard practice. However, normal pediatric reference data are not available. Objective To investigate both the normal development of the third ventricle in the 0-18-year age group and changes in its biometry due to hydrocephalus. Materials and methods For this retrospective study, we selected individuals ages 0-18 years who had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from 2012 to 2020. We included 700 children (331 girls) who had three-dimensional (3-D) T1-weighted sequences without and 25 with hydrocephalus (11 girls). We measured the distances between the anatomical structures limiting the third ventricle by dividing the third ventricle into anterior and posterior regions. We made seven linear measurements and three index calculations using 3DSlicer and MRICloud pipeline, and we analyzed the results of 23 age groups in normal and hydrocephalic patients using SPSS (v. 23). Results Salient findings are: (1) The posterior part of the third ventricle is more affected by both developmental and hydrocephalus-related changes. (2) For third ventricle measurements, gender was insignificant while age was significant. (3) Normal third ventricular volumetric development showed a segmental increase in the 0-18 age range. The hydrocephalic third ventricle volume cut-off value in this age group was 3 cm(3). Conclusion This study describes third ventricle morphometry using a linear measurement method. The ratios defined in the midsagittal plane were clinically useful for diagnosing the hydrocephalic third ventricle. The linear and volumetric reference data and ratios are expected to help increase diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing normal and hydrocephalic third ventricles.