MRI 3D lateral cerebral ventricles in living humans: morphological and morphometrical age-, gender-related preliminary study

Morphological and volumetric variabilities of lateral ventricles are considered indirect indicators of age-and gender-related reductions of white and gray matter. However, no studies have classified lateral ventricles with different morphologies or showed its asymmetric shapes in healthy subjects. We performed an analysis on living subjects, using 3D volume rendering techniques. Eighty-five healthy Caucasian volunteers (49 women and 36 men aged 19–69 years) were scanned by a Philips Achieva 3T R2.6. Three-dimensional reconstruction allowed us to identify three main morphological shapes in living subjects and to show asymmetries between horns. We also assessed the surface deformation of the cerebral ventricles to identify region-specific shape differences in aging healthy adults. Statistical analysis showed significant gender- and age-related volume differences. An increase in lateral ventricle volume appears to be a constant, linear function of age throughout adult life.