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. 2015 Jun 1;38(6):853-8.
doi: 10.5665/sleep.4726.

Virchow-Robin Spaces: Correlations with Polysomnography-Derived Sleep Parameters

Courtney Berezuk  1   2   3 , Joel Ramirez  1   2   3 , Fuqiang Gao  1   2   3 , Christopher J M Scott  1   2   3 , Menal Huroy  1   2   3 , Richard H Swartz  1   2   3   4   5 , Brian J Murray  1   2   3   5 , Sandra E Black  1   2   3   4   5 , Mark I Boulos  1   2   3   5
Affiliations

Virchow-Robin Spaces: Correlations with Polysomnography-Derived Sleep Parameters

Courtney Berezuk et al. Sleep. .

Abstract

Study objectives: To test the hypothesis that enlarged Virchow-Robin space volumes (VRS) are associated with objective measures of poor quality sleep.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Setting: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Patients: Twenty-six patients being evaluated for cerebrovascular disease were assessed using polysomnography and high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging.

Measurements and results: Regionalized VRS were quantified from three-dimensional high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and correlated with measures of polysomnography-derived sleep parameters while controlling for age, stroke volume, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and ventricular cerebrospinal fluid volume. Sleep efficiency was negatively correlated with total VRS (rho = -0.47, P = 0.03) and basal ganglia VRS (rho = -0.54, P = 0.01), whereas wake after sleep onset was positively correlated with basal ganglia VRS (rho = 0.52, P = 0.02). Furthermore, VRS in the basal ganglia were negatively correlated with duration of N3 (rho = -0.53, P = 0.01).

Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that sleep may play a role in perivascular clearance in ischemic brain disease, and invite future research into the potential relevance of Virchow-Robin spaces as an imaging biomarker for nocturnal metabolite clearance.

Keywords: MRI; Virchow-Robin; basal ganglia; metabolite clearance; perivascular space; polysomnography; sleep; small vessel disease; stroke; white matter.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Enlarged Virchow-Robin space (VRS) segmentation with white matter VRS in red (arrows) and basal ganglia VRS in blue (arrowheads) overlaid on an axial T1-weighted MRI.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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