Abstract:

Objective To investigate the quantitative magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） analysis of parts of hippocampal volume (HV), and to determine the normal range of HV. Methods Twenty-five subjects （13 males and 12 females） underwent a 3.0T MRI with oblique coronal thin sections (1.5 mm) oriented perpendicular to the hippocampal long axis. The hippocampus was divided into three parts of head, body and tail, and the HV including the hippocampal head volume (HHV), hippocampal body volume (HBV), hippocampal tail volume (HTV) and whole hippocampal volume (HCV) were measured on T1weighted imaging. Results The right-side HHV, HBV, HTV and HCV were (1 712.81±242.26) mm³, (1 126.59±133.10) mm³, (231.22±76.28) mm³ and (3 078.62±254.82) mm³ respectively, and the left-side ones were (1 640.86±208.70) mm³, (1 098.20±145.00) mm³, (229.52±78.39) mm³ and (2 979.69±227.25) mm³ respectively. There was no significant difference between left-side HTV and right-side HTV(P>0.05), and the right-side HHV, HBV and HCV were significantly larger than the left ones (P<0.05 for all). There was no significant difference in left-side and right-side HV between males and females (P>0.05 for both). Conclusion MRI can quantitatively analyse HV, and determine the normal range of HV in normal adults.

Key words: hippocampal volume, magnetic resonance imaging, quantitative analysis