CEREBRAL VOLUMES AND SPECTROSCOPIC PROTON METABOLITES ON MR - IS SEX IMPORTANT

One of the factors that may influence the selection of appropriate con trols for MR studies of the brain is gender, This study compared calcu lated intracranial volumes and proton spectroscopic metabolite ratios obtained from male and female volunteers, Thirty-two males (mean age = 36; range = 30-53 yr) and 19 females (mean age = 39; range = 26-53 yr ) underwent investigation at 1.5T., Brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and intracranial (ICV = brain + CSF) volumes were measured by the CLAS S technique on data acquired using an axial dual spin-echo imaging seq uence (TE = 20/90 ms, TR = 3500 ms), Proton spectra (TE = 135 ms, TR = 1600 ms) were acquired from an 8 mi cubic region placed in parieto-oc cipital white matter, The mean male and female brain, CSP and ICV were significantly different (p < .005), However, the mean CSF/ICV ratios of the two groups were not significantly different, The N-acetyl/choli ne and choline/creatine metabolite ratios of the two groups were signi ficantly different (p < .05),When comparing proton metabolite ratios a nd absolute brain volumes between groups, gender is an important facto r, CSF/ICV ratios do not appear to depend on gender, (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.