The assessment of postmortem brain volume; a comparison of stereological and planimetric methodologies

We compared two methods of estimating the volume of 10 formalin-fixed brain s using MRI. MRI was performed and total brain volume was then assessed usi ng two distinct techniques: a stereological point-counting technique based on the Cavalieri principle, and an edge-tracing technique. The total brain volumes obtained using these two techniques were similar and correlated clo sely with each other (r = 0.97). Both methods could be optimised to a simil ar degree while maintaining the coefficient of error at an acceptably low l evel. However, the stereological assessment of brain volume required betwee n 20 min and 30 min per brain, depending on the number of points per sampli ng grid, compared with 1 h per brain using the planimetric method. Thus, wh ile planimetric and stereological approaches yield very similar results, th e stereological method has the advantage of greater speed and, therefore, e fficiency.