title: Evaluation of the ventricular system in children using transcranial ultrasound: reference values for routine diagnostics.
abstract: In children, evaluation of the size of the ventricular system is important. Transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD), a broadly available and easily applicable method that is not hampered by side effects, such as radiation, is a valuable tool for routine examinations. However, standard TCD values of the ventricular system are lacking. In this study, we performed TCD through the temporal acoustic bone window in a large cohort of 1693 healthy children. Of these, 157 had to be excluded because of insufficient bone windows. In the remaining children, a mean width of 1.4 +/- 0.8 mm for the third ventricle, 14.4 +/- 0.8 mm for the right and 14.6 +/- 0.7 mm for the left cella media, and 1.6 +/- 0.7 mm for the right and 1.9 +/- 0.8 mm for the left temporal horn were measured. Side differences are indicated and values are given in relation to age and gender. Inter-rater reproducibility obtained in 25 children was adequate, with no significant difference between the two measurements in any of the parts of the ventricular system measured, rendering these values suitable for reference.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Genetics and Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iova
authors.forename: Andrej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garmashov
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Androuchtchenko
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koberidse
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Jurij
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garmashov
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial / Q000379:methods*