Enhancement of Robin-Virchow Spaces MRI Evaluation

Abstract

The perivascular spaces are normally microscopic. Even in normal brain some Robin-Virchow spaces are usually seen in the area of substantia innominata at the level of anterior commissure. Many pathologic states result in abnormal dilatation with an increased number of spaces visible on MRI imaging. Dilatation is most commonly associated with anterior abnormalities that arise due to aging, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, hypertension and other vascular risk factors. The precise etiology of dilatation is currently unknown.

Quantification of perivascular spaces at 7 T: A potential MRI biomarker for epilepsy

“…Subtle MRI features, now visible at ultra-high fields, may prove to be non-invasive biomarkers towards localizing and confirming the suspected SOZ, even when the features are not directly related to the epileptogenic focus. Perivascular spaces (PVSs), also known as Virchow-Robin spaces 9 , are small cerebrospinal fluid-filled areas between blood vessels and the pia mater, and can be visualized using high resolution T 2 -weighted MRI sequences 10 . The brain lacks conventional lymphatic vessels and a growing body of research suggests that PVSs play an important role in a waste clearance, or glymphatic (glial + lymphatic), system 11–15 .…”