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Updated: Jun 29, 2025

3D Modeling of the Lateral Ventricles and Histological Characterization of Periventricular Tissue in Humans and Mouse
Published on: May 19, 2015
Frequency of brain ventricular enlargement among patients with diabetes mellitus
Antonio Currà1, Riccardo Gasbarrone2, Patrizia Gargiulo3
1Academic Neurology Unit, A. Fiorini Hospital, Terracina, LT, Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.
Aims:
To determine the prevalence of dilated ventricles and concomitant high blood glucose measures.
Methods:
We retrieved blood glucose measures from the emergency department database and selected a subgroup of individuals having both the radiological marker Evans' index (EI) values and blood glucose measures.
Results:
Out of 1221 consecutive patients submitted to axial Computed Tomography scans, a blood glucose measure was detected in 841 individuals. 176 scans (21 %) showed an EI > 0.30. According to the blood glucose categorization, diabetic patients were 104 (12 %), 25 of them (24 %) were dilated (mean EI 0.33). The age difference between dilated and not-dilated ventricles is about ten years in not-diabetic participants, whereas it is five years in diabetic participants. The age difference between dilated and not-dilated ventricles is about 10 years in diabetic men, whereas it zero in diabetic women.
Conclusions:
Pathological ventricular enlargement is more frequent in men and in the elderly. In diabetic patients (especially women), the cerebral ventricles enlarge faster than in non-diabetic individuals. Age, sex, and diabetes may interact in determining how cerebral ventricle size changes over time, especially in diabetic women, making routine brain imaging advisable in these patients after the age of 70 years.
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