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AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology

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American Journal of Neuroradiology 22:190-195 (1 2001)
© 2001 American Society of Neuroradiology

ARTICLE

MR Imaging of the Corpus Callosum in Pediatric Patients with Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Elizabeth C. Dubovsky^,a, Tim N. Booth^a, Gilbert Vezina^a, Carole A. Samango-Sprouse^a, Kathryn M. Palmer^a and Cynthia O. Brasseux^a

^a From the Departments of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology (E.C.D., L.G.V.) and Developmental Pediatrics (C.A.S-S.) and the Children's Research Institute (C.O.B.), Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; the Department of Radiology (T.N.B.), Dallas Children's Hospital, Dallas, TX; and the Department of Radiology (K.M.P.), Arlington Hospital, Arlington, VA.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Many pediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) have an apparent increased thickness of the corpus callosum (CC) on sagittal T1-weighted images compared with patients not affected by NF-1. In this study, we compared the surface area of the CC in children with NF-1 with that of healthy pediatric control subjects to determine if this was another common intracranial manifestation of NF-1.

METHODS: Midsagittal T1-weighted MR images of 43 consecutive children with NF-1 and 43 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects were reviewed retrospectively. The surface area of the CC and the midsagittal intracranial skull surface (MISS) area were measured five times each on all midsagittal images. A mean CC to mean midline intracranial surface area ratio (CC/MISS) was calculated for each.

RESULTS: There is a statistically significant increase in the mean CC surface area in pediatric patients with NF-1 (680 mm² ±98, range 509–974 mm²) compared with control subjects (573 mm² ± 83, range 404–797 mm²). The mean MISS is significantly increased in patients with NF-1 (16568 mm² ± 1161, range 14107–19394 mm² vs 15402 mm² ± 1133, range 12951–17905 mm² for control subjects). CC/MISS was also significantly increased in the patients with NF-1 relative to the control subjects (.0410 ± .0043, range .0330–.0530 vs .0372 ± .0043, range .0270–.0470 for control subjects).

CONCLUSION: A larger midsagittal surface area of the CC is another intracranial manifestation of NF-1 that can be demonstrated by sagittal MR imaging. The etiology is unclear, but could be related to abnormal neurofibromin and Ras protein activity. Potential clinical relevance is discussed herein.