title: 0.1T magnetic resonance image in the study of experimental hydrocephalus in rats. Accuracy of the method in the measurements of the ventricular size.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the accuracy of 1.0T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to measure the ventricular size in experimental hydrocephalus in pup rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wistar rats were subjected to hydrocephalus by intracisternal injection of 20% kaolin (n=13). Ten rats remained uninjected to be used as controls. At the endpoint of experiment animals were submitted to MRI of brain and killed. The ventricular size was assessed using three measures: ventricular ratio (VR), the cortical thickness (Cx) and the ventricles area (VA), performed on photographs of anatomical sections and MRI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The images obtained through MR present enough quality to show the lateral ventricular cavities but not to demonstrate the difference between the cortex and the white matter, as well as the details of the deep structures of the brain. There were no statistically differences between the measures on anatomical sections and MRI of VR and Cx (p=0.9946 and p=0.5992, respectively). There was difference between VA measured on anatomical sections and MRI (p<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The parameters obtained through 1.0T MRI were sufficient in quality to individualize the ventricular cavities and the cerebral cortex, and to calculate the ventricular ratio in hydrocephalus rats when compared to their respective anatomic slice.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Surgery Postgraduate Program, Department of Surgery and Anatomy, School of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto, USP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Samuel Caputo de
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Hélio Rubens
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Carlos Henrique Rocha
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Catalão
authors.forename: Betina Aisengart de
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Siqueira
authors.forename: Ana Leda Bertoncini
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.forename: João-José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lachat
authors.forename: Luiza da Silva
authors.initials: Lda S
authors.lastname: Lopes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results