Inglese Matilde, Grossman Robert I, Diller Leonard, Babb James S, Gonen Oded, Silver Jonathan M A, Rusinek Henry
Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, NY 10016, USA.
Brain Inj. 2006 Jan;20(1):15-21. doi: 10.1080/02699050500309593.
To investigate the relationship between the number of dilated Virchow-Robin spaces (VRS) and neurocognitive findings in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Thirty-eight patients with TBI and 21 controls were studied.
Fifteen patients underwent MRI within a mean interval of 5.4 (range 1-12) days from the brain injury and 23 after an average period of 5.5 (range 0.2-31) years. All subjects were examined with a battery of 13 neuropsychological tests (NP).
The average number of VRS was significantly higher in patients than in controls. There were no significant differences between patients and controls in terms of NP tests. The number of VRS showed a significant inverse correlation with processing speed and a positive correlation with visual perceptual of attention only in patients studied within a short delay of trauma.
VRS are not directly associated to neurocognitive findings, suggesting that they may represent a result of the shear-strain injury.
