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Growth patterns and ratios of posterior cranial fossa structures in the Japanese pediatric population: a study utilizing CT scans

  • Paediatric Neuroradiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

The changes in the proportion of posterior cranial fossa structures during pediatric development remain unclear. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the growth patterns and ratios of these structures using CT scans.

Methods

Head CT scans of pediatric patients with minor head trauma from Osaka Women’s and Children’s Hospital between March 2006 and May 2023 were analyzed. The study segmented the intracranial volume (ICV), posterior cranial fossa volume (PCFV), cerebellum volume (CBMV), and brainstem volume (BSV). Correlation coefficients were calculated among the parameters. Patients aged 0 to 10 years were divided into 15 age-related clusters, and mean and standard deviation values were measured. Growth curves were created by plotting mean values sequentially. Ratios such as PCFV/ICV and (CBMV + BSV)/PCFV were examined. Statistical analyses, including unpaired t tests and logarithmic curve fitting, were performed.

Results

A total of 234 CT scans (97 from females, 115 from infants under 1 year of age) were analyzed. Positive correlations were observed among the parameters, with the strongest between PCFV and CBMV. The growth curves for ICV, PCFV, CBMV, and BSV exhibited a two-phase process, with rapid growth until approximately 4 years of age, followed by stabilization. The ratios PCFV/ICV and (CBMV + BSV)/PCFV showed increasing trends from birth onwards, stabilizing by 4 and 1 years of age, respectively.

Conclusion

This study provides insights into the growth patterns and ratios of posterior cranial fossa structures in the pediatric population. The findings demonstrate a two-phase growth process and increasing trends in the examined ratios.

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Abbreviations

BSV:

Brainstem volume

CBMV:

Cerebellum volume

CGCS:

Modified child’s Glasgow coma scales

CI:

Confidence interval

CT:

Computed tomography

DICOM:

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine

ICV:

Intracranial volume

m:

Month

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

PCFV:

Posterior cranial fossa volume

SD:

Standard deviation

y:

Year

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Funding

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI [JP21K16629 (Hiroaki Hashimoto)] supported this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Osaka, Izumi, 594-1101, Japan

    Hiroaki Hashimoto, Osamu Takemoto & Yasuyoshi Chiba

  2. Department of Neurological Diagnosis and Restoration, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Suita, 565-0871, Japan

    Hiroaki Hashimoto

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  1. Hiroaki Hashimoto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroaki Hashimoto.

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Conflict of interest

The authors report no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethical approval

The Ethics Committee of Osaka Women’s and Children’s Hospital (Izumi, Japan, approval no. 1568) provided ethical approval for this study, which was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki guidelines for experiments involving humans.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained using the opt-out method from our center’s website because of the retrospective and noninvasive nature of the study.

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Previous Presentations: This paper has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. This paper has already been submitted to the preprint server medRxiv: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.07.23292362.

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Hashimoto, H., Takemoto, O. & Chiba, Y. Growth patterns and ratios of posterior cranial fossa structures in the Japanese pediatric population: a study utilizing CT scans. Neuroradiology 65, 1835–1844 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-023-03229-3

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