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Published on: February 19, 2010
Evaluation of olfactory bulbus volume and olfactory sulcus depth development with 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging
B Güney1, N Çullu2, M Y Özdemir2
1Department of Radiology, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Medical Faculty, Muğla, Turkey. bunyaminguney@mu.edu.tr.
Insights
Olfactory bulb volume (OBV) and olfactory sulcus depth (OSD) in children change with age and gender. These findings are crucial for identifying olfactory dysfunction in pediatric populations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Pediatric Neurology
- Olfactory System Development
Background:
- Olfactory bulb volume (OBV) and olfactory sulcus depth (OSD) are key indicators of olfactory system development.
- Understanding normative values in pediatric populations is essential for diagnosing olfactory dysfunction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate changes in OBV and OSD in healthy Turkish children aged 1 month to 18 years.
- To analyze the influence of age groups and gender on OBV and OSD development.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 190 pediatric cranial MRIs using 3 Tesla MRI.
- Paediatric cases categorized into four age groups: infantile, early childhood, childhood, and adolescence.
- Coronal T2-weighted images were used for measuring mean, right, and left OBV and OSD.
Main Results:
- Mean OBV was slightly larger in males than females (p=0.015).
- No significant gender difference was observed for OSD (p=0.559).
- Both OBV and OSD showed significant increases across different age groups (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Paediatric OBV and OSD exhibit distinct developmental patterns influenced by age and gender.
- Establishing age- and gender-specific normative values is critical for detecting olfactory dysfunction in children.
Background:
This study aimed to reveal the change in olfactory bulbus volume (OBV) and olfactory sulcus depth (OSD) in healthy Turkish paediatric individuals between 1 month and 18 years of age with 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), taking into account different age groups and gender factors.
Materials And Methods:
In this retrospective study, 190 paediatric individuals who underwent cranial MRI were evaluated. Healthy paediatric cases were divided into four groups as infantile period (first 24 months when cerebral myelinisation was completed), early childhood (2-6 years), childhood (6-12 years) and adolescence (12-18 years). OBV and OSD measurements were performed on coronal T2-weighted brain MRI by 3 Tesla magnetic resonance scan. The mean, right and left OBVs and OSDs were used for evaluation.
Results:
The mean age was 9.9 ± 7.5 months for the infantile period, 4.5 ± 1.3 years for early childhood, 9.3 ± 1.7 years for childhood and 15.2 ± 1.7 years for adolescence. Mean, right and left OBV was found to be slightly larger in male children than in female children (p = 0.015, p = 0.033 and p = 0.010, respectively). There was no statistical difference between the genders for mean, right and left OSD (p = 0.559, p = 0.536 and p = 0.598, respectively). Among the age groups, the values of the 3rd and 4th groups in terms of mean, right and left OBV were higher than in the other two groups (p < 0.001). In terms of OSD, mean, right and left values were higher in group 2, 3 and 4 than in group 1 (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
These data differ by paediatric age group and gender for the development of OBV and OSD. Normal values for the paediatric age group and gender should be calculated to detect olfactory dysfunction.

