DEVELOPMENT OF 3RD VENTRICLE WIDTH FROM PREMATURE BIRTH TO OLD-AGE - ONE-DIMENSIONAL ECHOENCEPHALOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION OF 1841 SUBJECTS

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • review article
    • Vol. 45  (4) , 223-268
Abstract
One-dimensional echoencephalographic investigations were made of the 3rd ventricle with the Siemens-Krautkraemer Unit USM 1 in 1841 subjects. Premature infants (200) with a birth weight of up to 2500 g were examined within 48 h of birth. It was statistically proved, that with increasing weight, advancing gestational age and growth of the head circumference, the width of the 3rd ventricle diminished. Data were obtainted from 1641 children and adults. The 1st phase up to 2.5 yr was characterized by a rapid increase in size. The 2nd phase covered the age group up to about the 16th to 20th yr and was characterized by a kind of plateau without significant change in the width of the 3rd ventricle. In the 3rd phase, ages from 16-20 up to 57-58 yr, a slow increase to higher values was observed. The 4th phase, from the 57/58th to 78/79th yr, showed a distinctly higher increase than the 3rd phase. Results beyond the 78/79th yr were not uniform but rather heterogenous and unpredictable, questioning the concept of a further physiological development of the 3rd ventricle. A linear relationship between age and the 3rd ventricle was demonstrated up to about the end of the 8th decade. Normal values for the 3rd ventricle should not be given in future, without indicating the age.

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