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. 2015 Oct 31;1(4):513-20.
doi: 10.1016/j.dadm.2015.10.004. eCollection 2015 Dec.

A priori collaboration in population imaging: The Uniform Neuro-Imaging of Virchow-Robin Spaces Enlargement consortium

Hieab H H Adams  1 , Saima Hilal  2 , Petra Schwingenschuh  3 , Katharina Wittfeld  4 , Sven J van der Lee  5 , Charles DeCarli  6 , Meike W Vernooij  1 , Petra Katschnig-Winter  3 , Mohamad Habes  7 , Christopher Chen  8 , Sudha Seshadri  9 , Cornelia M van Duijn  5 , M Kamran Ikram  2 , Hans J Grabe  10 , Reinhold Schmidt  3 , M Arfan Ikram  11
Affiliations

A priori collaboration in population imaging: The Uniform Neuro-Imaging of Virchow-Robin Spaces Enlargement consortium

Hieab H H Adams et al. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). .

Abstract

Introduction: Virchow-Robin spaces (VRS), or perivascular spaces, are compartments of interstitial fluid enclosing cerebral blood vessels and are potential imaging markers of various underlying brain pathologies. Despite a growing interest in the study of enlarged VRS, the heterogeneity in rating and quantification methods combined with small sample sizes have so far hampered advancement in the field.

Methods: The Uniform Neuro-Imaging of Virchow-Robin Spaces Enlargement (UNIVRSE) consortium was established with primary aims to harmonize rating and analysis (www.uconsortium.org). The UNIVRSE consortium brings together 13 (sub)cohorts from five countries, totaling 16,000 subjects and over 25,000 scans. Eight different magnetic resonance imaging protocols were used in the consortium.

Results: VRS rating was harmonized using a validated protocol that was developed by the two founding members, with high reliability independent of scanner type, rater experience, or concomitant brain pathology. Initial analyses revealed risk factors for enlarged VRS including increased age, sex, high blood pressure, brain infarcts, and white matter lesions, but this varied by brain region.

Discussion: Early collaborative efforts between cohort studies with respect to data harmonization and joint analyses can advance the field of population (neuro)imaging. The UNIVRSE consortium will focus efforts on other potential correlates of enlarged VRS, including genetics, cognition, stroke, and dementia.

Keywords: Cerebrovascular disease; Dementia; Magnetic resonance imaging; Population based; Population imaging; Risk factors; Stroke; Virchow-Robin spaces.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hypothesized etiologies for enlargement of Virchow-Robin spaces.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Virchow-Robin spaces in the centrum semiovale of various sizes. Panel A shows a person with faint ( < 1 mm) Virchow-Robin spaces whereas panel B shows a person with large ( > 1 mm) spaces.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison of statistical power between the UNIVRSE consortium and the largest published study on Virchow-Robin spaces. Abbreviation: UNIVRSE, Uniform Neuro-Imaging of Virchow-Robin Spaces Enlargement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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