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open license. Please read the
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Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Haemorrhage, Dilatation, Structured reporting, Ultrasound, Paediatric, Neuroradiology brain
Authors:
I. Oulad Abdennabi, J. Bakker; Dordrecht/NL
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2014/C-1557
Findings and procedure details
The ventricle index,
which is better known as the Levene,
is the distance from the falx to the lateral boundary of the lateral ventricle.
This is measured in the coronal plane just posterior or at the level of the foramen of Monro.
It is the most commonly described method and has the largest reference database.
However the ventricle index only shows a clear increase in severe hydrocephalus.
The ventricle index is often confused with the ventricular hemispheric ratio,
the width of the horns as a ratio to the hemispheric width,
which is less sensitive to ventricular dilatation in the first few weeks post-partum.
The anterior horn width,
better known as the Davies,
is the maximum diagonal width of the horn,
measured in the same plane as the ventricle index and is more sensitive to mild ventricular dilatation and is easy to reproduce.
The Thalamo-occipital distance is measured in the sagittal plane and is the distance from the thalamus to the tip of the dorsal horn.
This measurement is most sensitive to mild dilatation because lateral ventricle dilatation manifests itself first in the occipital horns,
however this measurement is difficult to reproduce and error measurements are made easily.
Ventricle measurements including the third ventricle,
the fourth ventricle and the ventricle height are not frequently used.
More importantly is to describe the shape of the ventricle.
With the increasing pressure after a cerebral bleeding,
the ventricle shape becomes rounder,
this phenomenon is called "ballooning".