Virchow Robin spaces

  • Perivascular space
  • Transmit small arteries and veins
  • Radially oriented
  • Seen as radiating lines in white matter
  • CSF signal in all sequences
  • Asymmetrically large perivascular spaces often misdiagnosed as lacunar infarcts
  • In basal ganglia, they are ovoid in shape, obliquely oriented in direction of lenticulostriate vessels. Related to outer fibers of anterior commissure
  • More evident as brain atrophies
  • Can be a route of transmission of diseases like lymphoma or infections like cryptococcosis

Read more

Kwee, Robert M., and Thomas C. Kwee. “Virchow-Robin spaces at MR imaging.” Radiographics 27.4 (2007): 1071-1086.