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Volumetric quantification of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage independently predicts hydrocephalus and seizures

Badih J. Daou, Siri Sahib S. Khalsa, Sharath Kumar Anand, Craig A. Williamson, Noah S. Cutler, Bryan L. Aaron, Sudharsan Srinivasan, Venkatakrishna Rajajee, Kyle Sheehan, and Aditya S. Pandey

OBJECTIVE

Hydrocephalus and seizures greatly impact outcomes of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH); however, reliable tools to predict these outcomes are lacking. The authors used a volumetric quantitative analysis tool to evaluate the association of total aSAH volume with the outcomes of shunt-dependent hydrocephalus and seizures.

METHODS

Total hemorrhage volume following aneurysm rupture was retrospectively analyzed on presentation CT imaging using a custom semiautomated computer program developed in MATLAB that employs intensity-based k-means clustering to automatically separate blood voxels from other tissues. Volume data were added to a prospectively maintained aSAH database. The association of hemorrhage volume with shunted hydrocephalus and seizures was evaluated through logistic regression analysis and the diagnostic accuracy through analysis of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

RESULTS

The study population comprised 288 consecutive patients with aSAH. The mean total hemorrhage volume was 74.9 ml. Thirty-eight patients (13.2%) developed seizures. The mean hemorrhage volume in patients who developed seizures was significantly higher than that in patients with no seizures (mean difference 17.3 ml, p = 0.01). In multivariate analysis, larger hemorrhage volume on initial CT scan and hemorrhage volume > 50 ml (OR 2.81, p = 0.047, 95% CI 1.03–7.80) were predictive of seizures. Forty-eight patients (17%) developed shunt-dependent hydrocephalus. The mean hemorrhage volume in patients who developed shunt-dependent hydrocephalus was significantly higher than that in patients who did not (mean difference 17.2 ml, p = 0.006). Larger hemorrhage volume and hemorrhage volume > 50 ml (OR 2.45, p = 0.03, 95% CI 1.08–5.54) were predictive of shunt-dependent hydrocephalus. Hemorrhage volume had adequate discrimination for the development of seizures (AUC 0.635) and shunted hydrocephalus (AUC 0.629).

CONCLUSIONS

Hemorrhage volume is an independent predictor of seizures and shunt-dependent hydrocephalus in patients with aSAH. Further evaluation of aSAH quantitative volumetric analysis may complement existing scales used in clinical practice and assist in patient prognostication and management.

In Journal of Neurosurgery Volume 135: Issue 4 (Oct 2021)

Free access

Normal cerebral ventricular volume growth in childhood

Noah S. Cutler, Sudharsan Srinivasan, Bryan L. Aaron, Sharath Kumar Anand, Michael S. Kang, David B. Altshuler, Thomas C. Schermerhorn, Todd C. Hollon, Cormac O. Maher, and Siri Sahib S. Khalsa

OBJECTIVE

Normal percentile growth charts for head circumference, length, and weight are well-established tools for clinicians to detect abnormal growth patterns. Currently, no standard exists for evaluating normal size or growth of cerebral ventricular volume. The current standard practice relies on clinical experience for a subjective assessment of cerebral ventricular size to determine whether a patient is outside the normal volume range. An improved definition of normal ventricular volumes would facilitate a more data-driven diagnostic process. The authors sought to develop a growth curve of cerebral ventricular volumes using a large number of normal pediatric brain MR images.

METHODS

The authors performed a retrospective analysis of patients aged 0 to 18 years, who were evaluated at their institution between 2009 and 2016 with brain MRI performed for headaches, convulsions, or head injury. Patients were excluded for diagnoses of hydrocephalus, congenital brain malformations, intracranial hemorrhage, meningitis, or intracranial mass lesions established at any time during a 3- to 10-year follow-up. The volume of the cerebral ventricles for each T2-weighted MRI sequence was calculated with a custom semiautomated segmentation program written in MATLAB. Normal percentile curves were calculated using the lambda-mu-sigma smoothing method.

RESULTS

Ventricular volume was calculated for 687 normal brain MR images obtained in 617 different patients. A chart with standardized growth curves was developed from this set of normal ventricular volumes representing the 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles. The charted data were binned by age at scan date by 3-month intervals for ages 0–1 year, 6-month intervals for ages 1–3 years, and 12-month intervals for ages 3–18 years. Additional percentile values were calculated for boys only and girls only.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors developed centile estimation growth charts of normal 3D ventricular volumes measured on brain MRI for pediatric patients. These charts may serve as a quantitative clinical reference to help discern normal variance from pathologic ventriculomegaly.

In Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics Volume 26: Issue 5 (Nov 2020)