PHYSIOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF A PATIENT WITH EXTREME WIDENING OF VIRCHOW-ROBIN SPACES

We report on a 60-year-old woman with extreme widening of Virchow-Robi n spaces who showed neither neurological symptoms nor signs. Magnetic resonance imagings (MRIs) of her brain disclosed multiple abnormalitie s located along the perforating medullary arteries in the white matter . Central sensory and motor conduction studies (sensory evoked potenti als (SEPs) and magnetic stimulation) showed no conduction delays and s everal modulatory inputs normally influenced the motor and sensory cor tical excitability, as expected from clinical features. These physiolo gical analyses confirmed the functional integrity of the central senso ry and motor systems, even though imaging studies showed seemingly ser ious abnormalities. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .