MRI of human entorhinal cortex: a reliable protocol for volumetric measurement

A new protocol for measuring the volume of the entorhinal cortex (EC) from magnetic resonance images (MRI) was developed specifically to measure the E C from oblique coronal sections used in hippocampal volumetric studies. The relative positions of the anatomic landmarks demarcating EC boundaries wer e transposed from standard coronal sections to oblique ones. The lateral EC border, which is the most controversial among anatomists, was defined in a standard and conservative manner at the medial edge of the collateral sulc us. Two raters measured the EC twice for 78 subjects (healthy aged individu als, very mild AD patients, and elderly patients who did not meet criteria for dementia) to study intra- and inter-rater reproducibility and reliabili ty of measurements. The level of accuracy achieved (coefficients of reprodu cibility of 1.40-3.86%) and reliability of measurements (intraclass correla tion coefficients of 0.959-0.997) indicated that this method provides a fea sible tool for measuring the volume of the EC in vivo. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc ience Inc. Ali rights reserved.