title: Giant dilatations of virchow-robin spaces in the midbrain. MRI aspects and review of the literature.
abstract: Virchow-Robin spaces are lesions often seen in the brain parenchyma but their etiopathogenesis remains unsettled. Giant Virchow-Robin spaces placed in the midbrain are extremely rare. We describe three patients with a diagnosis of giant Virchow-Robin spaces in the midbrain, and their clinical and radiologic findings. We reviewed the literature in terms of the etiopathology, anatomic and radiologic appearance and differential diagnosis of the giant Virchow-Robin spaces. The diagno-stic role of the high Tesla magnetic resonance devices and new sequences techniques such as three dimensional isotropic acquisition and diffusion tensor imaging were also evaluated in this case series.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Ataturk Training and Research Hospital; Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey - pietropsat@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Algin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Conforti
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Saturnino
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozmen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cirillo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Costanzo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Cristofaro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rotondo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cirillo