title: Midsagittal MR measurements of the corpus callosum in healthy subjects and diseased patients: a prospective survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine quantitatively a possible corpus callosum (CC) involvement in normal aging and white matter diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Midsagittal size and signal of CC were recorded prospectively from 243 routine MR brain examinations. A midline internal skull surface (MISS) and subcutaneous fat signal intensity were measured to calculate CC/MISS and CC/fat ratios. Four groups of subjects were studied: 124 apparently healthy subjects, 45 patients with multiple sclerosis, 13 patients with a noncerebral cancer under chemotherapy, and 37 AIDS patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean surface area of CC in controls was 6.36 cm2. It was significantly larger in men than in women (P < .05), but CC/MISS ratio was not. Elderly controls > 70 years and AIDS patients displayed significant CC atrophy, as well as multiple sclerosis subjects with long-standing disease or with a severe chronic progressive form.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CC substance loss identification should not be based on visual inspection or on absolute area, but by means of a CC/MISS ratio.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Bichat University Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Laissy
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Patrux
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duchateau
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hannequin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hugonet
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ait-Yahia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thiebot
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001284:Atrophy; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies