Turkish Neurosurgery 2009 , Vol 19 , Num 1
Evaluation of Cerebellar Asymmetry with Vertigo Cases: A Stereological Study
H. Selim KARABEKİR1, Nuket GÖÇMEN MAS2, Özge KÜSPECİ YILMAZ3, Orhan BAŞ4, Tolga ERTEKİN5, A. Canan YAZICI6, Sevda SENAN7
1Afyon Kocatepe University, School of Medicine, Neurosurgery Department, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
2Afyon Kocatepe University School of Medicine, Anatomy Department, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
3Afyon Kocatepe University School of Medicine, Neurology Department, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
4Rize University School of Medicine, Anatomy Department, Rize, Turkey
5Afyon Kocatepe University Ataturk Vocational School of Health Services, Anatomy Department, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
6Baskent University School of Medicine, Biostatistics Department, Ankara, Turkey
7Turkish Geriatric Foundation, Ankara, Turkey
AIM: We aimed to evaluate the relevant methods of stereology to estimate cerebellar asymmetry according to gender in both adult right-handed vertigo cases and healthy cases.

MATERIAL and METHODS: The study included 14 adult control subjects and 18 patients with vertigo. The volumes of the cerebellar hemispheres were determined on MRI using the point-counting approach of stereological methods.

RESULTS: The mean (±SD) of the right cerebellar hemispheres in the patients with vertigo were 52.49±5.42 cm3 in males, 50.11±4.02 cm3 in females. The mean (±SD) of the left cerebellar hemispheres in the patients with vertigo were 53.11±3.70 cm3 in males and 49.73±4.69 cm3 in females. There was no significant quantitative evidence detected in terms of cerebellar asymmetry between sagittal plane estimates in the cases with vertigo in both genders (p>0.05). There were no statistically significant differences by genders between vertigo and control subjects (p>0.05). There was statistical significance only between right and left hemispheres in male control subjects (p=0.039)

CONCLUSION: There was no cerebellar asymmetry between control and vertigo cases by gender. The stereological evaluation of cerebellar asymmetry or atrophy in humans in correlation with gender is of importance both for clinicians and anatomists. The technique is simple, reliable, inexpensive and unbiased. Keywords : Cavalier principle, Stereology, Cerebellar asymmetry, Magnetic Resonance, Imaging, Vertigo

Corresponding author : H. Selim Karabekir, hskarabekir@hotmail..com