Changes in size of normal lateral ventricles during aging determined by computerized tomography.

One hundred thirty-five normal volunteers were examined by computerized tomography (CT) and their ventricular size was measured by planimetry. A pattern of change in ventricular size from the first through the ninth decades was discerned and quantified. A gradually progressive increase in ventricular size from the first through sixth decades was followed by a dramatic increase in the eighth and ninth. The range of normal ventricular size was relatively more wide in the eighth and ninth decades than in the first seven; thus, abnormalities of ventricular size may be more easily identified in younger than older subjects. These data are more valuable than those from pneumoencephalography or autopsy studies because CT is not subject to the artifact inherent in those procedures.