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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.

Sec. Applied Neuroimaging

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1552559

This article is part of the Research TopicUnraveling Cognitive Impairment: A Multimodal MRI Approach to Brain NetworksView all 11 articles

Preliminary Assessment of Age-and Sex-Related Differences in Brain Volume Using Quantib™ Brain Quantification: A study in a Vietnamese Cohort

Provisionally accepted
VU  DANG LUUVU DANG LUU1,2DO  THI PHUONG LIENDO THI PHUONG LIEN3NGUYEN  KHOI VIETNGUYEN KHOI VIET1NGUYEN  HUU ANNGUYEN HUU AN1,4*NGUYEN  QUANG ANHNGUYEN QUANG ANH1,2LE  VAN KHANGLE VAN KHANG1,2NGUYEN  NGOC TRANGNGUYEN NGOC TRANG1VO  HONG KHOIVO HONG KHOI1,2,5NGUYEN  VAN HOANGNGUYEN VAN HOANG1NGUYEN  CONG TIENNGUYEN CONG TIEN1Laurent  PierotLaurent Pierot4
  • 1Bạch Mai Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 2Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Red River Delta, Vietnam
  • 3Dong Da Genal Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 4Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, Reims, Champagne-Ardenne, France
  • 5Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Hanoi, Red River Delta, Vietnam

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: This study evaluates age-and sex-related differences in brain volume, including normalized gray matter (nGM), normalized white matter (nWM), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume, and total intracranial volume (TIV) in cognitively normal adults using automatic volume segmentation on 3.0 Tesla MRI.A prospective cross-sectional study conducted from Octobrer 2021 to Septembrer 2022 included 110 cognitively normal participants. They were divided into younger (18-35 years) and older (60-80 years) groups. Brain MRI were performed at Bach Mai Hospital, and volumetric analysis utilized automated segmentation software (Quantib TM Brain, GE Healthcare). Differences in brain volumes were analyzed by age and sex. Brain volume indices were successfully analyzed without technical issues in 108 out of 110 participants (98,2%). The younger group comprisedose a total of 57 participants (30 females, and 27 males; with mean age of 28 ranged from 18 to 35), and the older group comprisedose a total of 51 participants (32 females, and 19 males; with mean age of 66 ranged from 60 to 78). nGM was significantly higher in younger than older groups (p< 0.001), with no significant sex differences (p=0.51). nGM showed an inverse correlation with age in younger males (r=-0.56, p<0.001) and older males (r=-0.52; p=0.02), but not in females (p=0.77 in younger group and p=0.07 in older group). nWM was also higher in younger groups (p=0.02), with no significant sex differences (p=0.10) or correlation with age across all groups (p>0.05). CSF volume was significantly higher in males (p=0.001) and older groups (p<0.001). A positive correlation was noted between CSF volume and age in younger males (r=0.41; p=0.02), but not in other groups. TIV was higher in males (p<0.01) and in younger groups (p<0.001), with no correlation with age in any group (p>0.05).This preliminary study suggests potential age-and sex-related differences in brain volume indices among cognitively normal Vietnamese adults. Additional studies with larger and more representative populations are warranted to confirm and expand upon these findings.

Keywords: Brain volume assessment, High-field MRI, Quantib TM Brain software, cognitive health, age-related differences, sex-related differences, Vietnamese population

Received: 28 Dec 2024; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 DANG LUU, THI PHUONG LIEN, KHOI VIET, HUU AN, QUANG ANH, VAN KHANG, NGOC TRANG, HONG KHOI, VAN HOANG, CONG TIEN and Pierot. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: NGUYEN HUU AN, Bạch Mai Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam

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