Interuncal distance as a measure of hippocampal atrophy: normative data on axial MR imaging.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effects of age and gender on the interuncal distance measured from MR images.


METHODS
High-field strength MR images (axial) of 75 volunteers, 21-82 years old and free of neurologic disorders, were used to measure the interuncal distance.


RESULTS
The interuncal distance increased with age (r = 0.66, P < .0001). The mean (SD) interuncal distance for all subjects was 21.4 (4) mm with a range of 12 to 29 mm.


CONCLUSIONS
The interuncal distance in healthy subjects is unlikely to exceed 30 mm. Our data may be of clinical significance in view of a previous report stating that the interuncal distance may be enlarged in pathologic hippocampal degeneration, such as in patients with Alzheimer disease.
Doraiswamy
P M
PM
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
McDonald
W M
WM
Patterson
L
L
Husain
M M
MM
Figiel
G S
GS
Boyko
O B
OB
Krishnan
K R
KR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology; D001284:Atrophy; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics