Comparative morphometric evaluation of the brainstem in neurodegenerative diseases with healthy individuals using magnetic resonance imaging

Rajagopal, KV; D’Souza, Antony Sylvan; Verma, Aparna; Hosapatna, Mamatha; Prasanna, Lokadolalu Chandracharya

doi:10.1016/j.jtumed.2021.06.012

Cited by 1 publication

(7 citation statements)

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“…In the human brainstem, prominent age-related decline of midbrain size has been reported ( 5 , 9 , 11–14 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 29 ), consistent with the present study. The midbrain has fibers and numerous nuclear masses in the tegmentum and a decrease in midbrain size has been attributed to neuronal death or degeneration ( 6 , 15 , 17 , 29 ). Shrinkage of the substantia nigra with a decrease in the number of neurons has also been reported ( 12 , 15 , 17 , 36 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides changing with age, brainstem size can decrease or increase depending on pathological changes. The size or diameter of the brainstem decreases through atrophy associated with neurodegenerative disorders, and these structural measurements play an important role in diagnosis in humans ( 6 , 9 , 37 ). Furthermore, some diffusely infiltrating tumors, such as gliomas, may be detected through an increase in size, without observable differences in signal intensities due to changes in relaxation times ( 16 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive modality that is widely used to detect brain lesions, including in the brainstem ( 7 , 8 ). MRI provides accurate and detailed quantitative morphological information about the brainstem ( 5 , 6 , 9 , 10 ). In previous human studies, linear measurement has been suggested as a reliable and rapid method for evaluating brainstem size, and a multitude of studies measuring the brainstem quantitatively have been reported ( 6 , 9–16 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brainstem size has been found to decrease with the normal aging process ( 5 , 9 , 11–14 ). Furthermore, brainstem diameters decrease with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, or other atrophic processes ( 6 , 16 ). Contrastingly, some diffusely infiltrating brain tumors increase the diameter of the brainstem with no marked signal change in the MR images ( 16 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The brainstem-the caudoventral part of the cranial cavity, located between the diencephalon, cerebellum, and spinal cord (1, 2)-is composed of the midbrain (mesencephalon), pons (ventral metencephalon), and medulla oblongata (myelencephalon), and most of the cranial nerves originate from nuclei located in the midbrain through the medulla oblongata (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6). The brainstem is the caudoventral part of the cranial cavity, located between the diencephalon, cerebellum, and spinal cord (1,2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measurement of brainstem diameter in small-breed dogs using magnetic resonance imaging

Kim

Kwon

Kim³

et al. 2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Measurement of brainstem diameters (midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata)is of potential clinical significance, as changes in brainstem size may decrease or increase due to age, neurodegenerative disorders, or neoplasms. In human medicine, numerous studies have reported the normal reference range of brainstem size, which is hitherto unexplored in veterinary medicine, particularly for small-breed dogs. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the reference range of brainstem diameters in small-breed dogs and to correlate the measurements with age, body weight (BW), and body condition score (BCS). Herein, magnetic resonance (MR) images of 544 small-breed dogs were evaluated. Based on the exclusion criteria, 193 dogs were included in the midbrain and pons evaluation, and of these, 119 dogs were included in the medulla oblongata evaluation. Using MR images, the height and width of the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata were measured on the median and transverse plane on the T1-weighted image. For the medulla oblongata, two points were measured for each height and width. The mean values of midbrain height (MH), midbrain width (MW), pons height (PH), pons width (PW), medulla oblongata height at the fourth ventricle level (MOHV), medulla oblongata height at the cervicomedullary (CM) junction level (MOHC), rostral medulla oblongata width (RMOW), and caudal medulla oblongata width (CMOW) were 7.18 ± 0.56 mm, 17.42 ± 1.21 mm, 9.73 ± 0.64 mm, 17.23 ± 1.21 mm, 6.06 ± 0.53 mm, 5.77 ± 0.40 mm, 18.93 ± 1.25 mm, and 10.12 ± 1.08 mm, respectively. No significant differences were found between male and female dogs for all the measurements. A negative correlation was found between age and midbrain diameter, including MH (p < 0.001) and MW (p = 0.002). All brainstem diameters were correlated positively with BW (p < 0.05). No significant correlation was found between BCS and all brainstem diameters. Brainstem diameters differed significantly between breeds (p < 0.05), except for MW (p = 0.137). This study assessed linear measurements of the brainstem diameter in small-breed dogs. We suggest that these results could be useful in assessing abnormal conditions of the brainstem in small-breed dogs.

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