title: Interuncal distance as a measure of hippocampal atrophy: normative data on axial MR imaging.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Doraiswamy
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Husain
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Figiel
authors.forename: O B
authors.initials: OB
authors.lastname: Boyko
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Krishnan
mesh_terms: 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