MRI OF EXCISED HUMAN BRAIN PRELIMINARY TO PATHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the interest of MRI of excis ed human brains before traditional pathological examination. MRI was p erformed on 40 formalin fixed brain specimen; the brains were placed o n tap water in a plastic box, and submitted to standard MRI, 3D FT vol ume acquisition and multislice SE TI, PD and T2 weighted. The results of 3D FT volume acquisition were used for multiplanar reconstruction o f planes according to the direction of anatomical structures. Our expe rience demonstrate that preliminary MRI of excised brains is possible because it does not alterate the results of following standard patholo gical examinations; the dissection may be focused on the MRI demonstra ted pathology. MRI allows to correlate the results of the pathological examination of a slice with the state of the whole brain. An interest ing option is the use of this method for medico-legal purpose.