Preterm neonatal lateral ventricle volume from three-dimensional ultrasound is not strongly correlated to two-dimensional ultrasound measurements

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of this study is to compare longitudinal two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound (US) estimates of ventricle size in preterm neonates with posthemorrhagic ventricular dilatation (PHVD) using quantitative measurements of the lateral ventricles. Cranial 2-D US and 3-D US images were acquired from neonatal patients with diagnosed PHVD within 10 min of each other one to two times per week and analyzed offline. Ventricle index, anterior horn width, third ventricle width, and thalamo-occipital distance were measured on the 2-D images and ventricle volume (VV) was measured from 3-D US images. Changes in the measurements between successive image sets were also recorded. No strong correlations were found between VV and 2-D US measurements (R 2 between 0.69 and 0.36). Additionally, weak correlations were found between changes in 2-D US measurements and 3-D US VV (R 2 between 0.13 and 0.02). A trend was found between increasing 2-D US measurements and 3-D US-based VV, but this was not the case when comparing changes between 3-D US VV and 2-D US measurements. If 3-D US-based VV provides a more accurate estimate of ventricle size than 2-D US measurements, moderate-weak correlations with 3-D US suggest that monitoring preterm patients with PHVD using 2-D US measurements alone might not accurately represent whether the ventricles are progressively dilating. A volumetric measure (3-D US or MRI) could be used instead to more accurately represent changes. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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“…Monitoring IVH using 2D US involves obtaining measurements, such as the ventricle index, third ventricle width, anterior horn width, and thalamo‐occipital distances and using these to estimate the volume 8 . Although IVH is relatively easy to diagnose with 2D US and is cost‐effective, estimating volumetric changes over time is unreliable due to a high user dependency on 2D image slice acquisition 1,9,10 . A previous study 9 has shown that these 2D US measurements are not strongly correlated to ventricle volumes and have limitations in predicting patients who develop PHVD.…”

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