CT assessment of CSF spaces in the brain in demented and nondemented patients over 60 years of age.

To obtain data about the size of the third ventricle, the lateral ventricles, and the cortical sulci in dementing diseases, computed tomography was performed on 300 patients over 60 years of age. Half of these patients were demented; half were not. Measurements were made to determine the width of the third ventricle, the Huckman number, the ventricular index, and the cella media index. The largest sulci in the frontal, temporal, and parietal areas were also measured; the sum served as an approximate sulcal index. The subjects were divided into 5 year age groups. The mean values in each group were determined and compared by the Student t test. In the nondemented groups there was an increase of the width of the cortical sulci corresponding to increasing age. There was no statistical difference in the sulcal measurements of the demented and nondemented groups except in the 60-69 age groups. The third ventricle enlarged with increasing age, but the enlargement was statistically significant only in the demented group. The strongest statistical relation occurred in the lateral ventricles, which were of normal size in the nondemented group and markedly enlarged in the demented group.