NEURO Imaging of the entire cerebrospinal fluid volume with a multistation 3D SPACE MR sequence: feasibility study in patients with hydrocephalus Jérôme Hodel & Alain Lebret & Eric Petit & Xavier Leclerc & Marc Zins & Alexandre Vignaud & Philippe Decq & Alain Rahmouni Received: 19 July 2012 / Revised: 27 October 2012 / Accepted: 31 October 2012 / Published online: 13 December 2012 # European Society of Radiology 2012 Abstract Objectives To evaluate the feasibility of imaging the entire cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume using the SPACE MR sequence. Methods The SPACE sequence encompassing the brain and spine was performed at 1.5 T in 12 healthy volunteers and 26 consecutive patients with hydrocephalus. Image contrast was estimated using difference ratios in signal intensity between CSF and its background. Segmentation of CSF was performed using geometrical features and a topological assumption of CSF shapes. Subarachnoid and ventricular CSF space volumes were assessed in volunteers and patients and linear discriminant analysis was performed. Results Image contrast was 0.94 between the CSF and the brain and 0.90 between the CSF and the spinal cord. Accord- ing to the phantom study, the accuracy of CSF volume mea- surement was 98.5 %. A clear distinction between patients and healthy volunteers was obtained using the linear discriminant analysis. Significant linear regression was found in healthy volunteers between ventricular (Vv) and the whole subarach- noid CSF volume (Vs) with Vv 0 0.083 Vs. Conclusions Imaging of the entire CSF volume is feasible in healthy volunteers and patients with hydrocephalus. CSF volume can be obtained on a whole-body scale. This ap- proach may be of use for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with hydrocephalus. Key Points • MRI assessment of CSF volume is feasible in healthy volunteers/hydrocephalus patients. • CSF volume can be obtained on a whole-body scale. • The ratio of subarachnoid and ventricular CSF is constant in healthy volunteers. • CSF linear discriminant analysis can distinguish between patients and healthy volunteers. • Entire CSF volume imaging is useful for diagnosing and following hydrocephalus. Keywords Cerebrospinal fluid . Hydrocephalus . Magnetic resonance imaging . Whole body imaging . SPACE MR sequence Abbreviations and acronyms CSF Cerebrospinal fluid J. Hodel Department of Neuroradiology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France J. Hodel : X. Leclerc Department of Neuroradiology, Hôpital Roger Salengro, Lille, France e-mail: jeromehodel@hotmail.com J. Hodel (*) : M. Zins Department of Radiology, Hôpital Saint Joseph, 185, Rue Raymond Losserand, Paris, France e-mail: jeromehodel@hotmail.com A. Lebret : E. Petit Laboratoire Images Signaux et Systèmes Intelligents, Université Paris XII, Créteil, France A. Vignaud Siemens Healthcare, Saint Denis, France P. Decq Department of Neurosurgery, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France A. Rahmouni Department of Radiology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France Eur Radiol (2013) 23:1450–1458 DOI 10.1007/s00330-012-2732-7