Morphometric measurements of the thalamus and interthalamic adhesion by MRI in the South-East of the Caspian Sea border

OBJECTIVE: To assess the gender differences and the age-related morphometrical changes of the thalamus, interthalamic adhesion, and the right-left differences of the thalamus of the native Fars ethnic group in the South-East of the Caspian Sea border

METHODS: This descriptive study was carried out on 97 patients (44 males and 53 females) without neuropathologic changes and symptoms admitted to the Kowsar MRI center in the South-East of the Caspian Sea border (Gorgan City, Northern Iran) in 2006. Thalamic dimensions were measured by MR images. The vertical lengths of the thalami and interthalamic adhesion were measured in the coronal sections, while the anteroposterior and transverse length measurements of the thalami and interthalamic adhesion were obtained in the axial plane. The data were assessed by SPSS 11.5 statistics program.

RESULTS: Thalamic dimensions were longer in males. There was no significant correlation between size of thalamus and interthalamic adhesion regarding age; however, we found that thalamic dimensions increase a little with age until the 31-40 years group, and decreased after that. There was no correlation between age and gender groups and dimensions of the interthalamic adhesion.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that there are no significant differences between right and left sides of the thalamus, however, the left-side thalamic dimensions were a little longer than the right.