title: Signal intensity of decussation of the superior cerebellar peduncle on sagittal T1WI: correlation with age and gender.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Decussation of the superior cerebellar peduncle (DSCP) usually shows low signal intensity (SI) on midsagittal T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) in neurologically normal brain. However, the SI change of DSCP with age and gender is not identified. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between SI of the DSCP and age and gender in healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spin-echo (SE) midsagittal T1WI of 120 neurologically normal subjects (52 men, 68 women; age range: 4-64 years, mean age: 31 years) were evaluated retrospectively. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the DSCP compared with that of the superior midbrain was calculated. One-way analysis of variance and bivariate correlation analysis were performed to evaluate the effects of gender and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CNR was significantly lower in the DSCP than in the superior midbrain (P<.001). The CNR of DSCP was not correlated with gender (P=.118) and age (P=.764).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The low SI of DSCP on midsagittal T1WI showed no correlation with gender or age in healthy subjects.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan 250021, PR China. medimage@163.com
authors.forename: Deting
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qingkui
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Yuanzhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xuzhu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult