Assessing morphological changes in the choroid plexus between standing and supine positions using a rotatable MRI...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging and Anatomy
• Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• The choroid plexus (ChP) is vital for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production.
• Understanding ChP morphology in an upright posture is limited.
• Gravity's effect on ChP structure and function requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate positional, areal, and volumetric changes of the ChP in response to gravity.
• To compare ChP morphology in supine versus upright postures.
• To analyze ChP's anatomical adaptations to postural changes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a rotatable 1.5T MRI scanner to acquire 3D MP-RAGE sequences at 0 and 90 degrees.
• Employed an in-house ChP segmentation pipeline for precise measurements.
• Analyzed gap lengths, surface area, volumes, and signal intensities relative to lateral ventricles (LVEN) in 31 healthy volunteers.

Main Results:

• Transitioning from supine to upright posture caused significant ChP positional shifts, including bottom gap decrease and posterior gap increase.
• ChP surface area decreased by 5.30% and volume by 7.53% in the upright position.
• Signal intensity of the ChP increased by 11.46% from lying to standing, with deviations along the direction of gravity.

Conclusions:

• Postural changes induce significant positional and volumetric alterations in the choroid plexus within the lateral ventricles.
• The study demonstrates ChP morphology in a natural standing condition, revealing gravity-dependent anatomical changes.
• Observed anatomic changes offer insights into cerebrospinal fluid circulation and intracranial pressure regulation across different postures.