Effects of method and MRI slice thickness on entorhinal cortex volumetry

Neuroreport. 2003 Jul 18;14(10):1291-5. doi: 10.1097/01.wnr.0000077545.91466.73.

Abstract

We assessed the effect of the method of analysis and the MRI slice thickness on entorhinal cortex volumetry. A T1 gradient echo 3D volumetric acquisition was reformatted into different slice thickness and analyzed by edge-tracing. We performed two different forms of analysis of images with 3 mm slice thickness: edge-tracing and pixel by pixel. There was difference among the volumes obtained from different slice thickness (p < 0.001), and also difference between the two different methods of analysis (p < 0.05). The use of thick slices is time saving, but volumes are linearly increased; different methods of segmentation also yields different values. The form of volumetric analysis of the entorhinal cortex should be evaluated in advance to prevent false estimates in longitudinal studies.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Brain Mapping
  • Entorhinal Cortex / anatomy & histology*
  • Entorhinal Cortex / metabolism
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Image Enhancement / methods
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged