659 The Cerebellum in Sagittal Plane-Anatomic-MR Correlation: 1. The Vermis Eric Courchesne 1 Correlation of thin (5-mm) sagittal high-field (1.5-T) MR images of three brain speci­ Gary A. Press2 mens and 11 normal volunteers with microtome sections of the human cerebellar vermis James Murakami1 and hemispheres demonstrates that proton-density-weighted (long TR/short TE) and Dean Berthoty2 T2-weighted (long TR/Iong TE) spin-echo pulse sequences provide the greatest contrast Marjorie Grafe3 between gray and white matter. These images also can display (1) the corpus medullare and primary white-matter branches to the vermian lobules, including the lingula, cen­ Clayton A. Wiley3 2 tralis, culmen, declive, folium, tuber, pyramis, uvula, and nodulus; and (2) several finer John R. Hesselink secondary branches to individual folia within the lobules. Surface features of the vermis including the deeper fissures (e.g., preculminate, primary, horizontal, and prepyramidal) and shallower sulci are best delineated by T1-weighted (short TR/short TE) and T2- weighted images, which provide greatest contrast between CSF and parenchyma. Given that the width of the normal vermis varied from 6 to 12 mm in our volunteers, the acquisition of thin slices (:S 5 mm) was required to minimize volume averaging of the cerebellar hemispheres with the vermis on a midline sagittal MR section. Knowledge of the detailed normal anatomy of the cerebellar vermis on sagittal MR images can assist in the identification of various pathologic alterations. Previous reports provided initial descriptions of normal and pathologic anatomy of the posterior fossa contents at low [1-3], moderate [4, 5], and high [6-9] MR field strengths. Compared with high-resolution CT, MR imaging demonstrates more detailed anatomy of the brainstem, cerebellopontine angles, and internal auditory canals due to its multiplanar imaging capability, absence of beam-hardening arti­ facts, and greater intrinsic soft-tissue contrast [9]. Although descriptions of the MR appearance of congenital and acquired abnor­ malities of the cerebellum are included in several reports [2, 4, 1 0-15], improve­ This article appears in the Julyf August 1989 issue of AJNR and the October 1989 issue of ments in MR technology including thin (3- to 5-mm) sections, special flow-compen­ AJR. sating spin-echo pulse sequences, and cardiac gating now permit display of normal Received August 12, 1988; revision requested anatomic features of the cerebellum not shown previously. Thus, it seems useful November 1, 1988; revision received November 25 , to determine the MR resolution of the cerebellar lobes, lobules, fissures, and related 1988; accepted December 7, 1988. posterior fossa structures by correlating MR with myelin-stained sections of the This work was supported by National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke grant 5-R01- human cerebellum. Application of these normative data to cerebellar abnormalities, NS19855 awarded to E. Courchesne. particularly congenital malformations, will be the subject of a separate report. , The Neuropsychology Research Laboratory, Children's Hospital Research Center, San Diego, CA 92123. 2 Department of Radiology and Magnetic Reso­ Materials, Subjects, and Methods nance Institute, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, 225 Dickinson St. , San Diego, MR studies of three formalin-fixed cadaver brains and 11 normal, healthy adult volunteers, CA 92103-1990. Address reprint requests to G. A. 10 males and one female 13-38 years old (mean age, 24.5 years), were performed in three Press. orthogonal planes by using a 1.5-T superconducting magnet.* All volunteers and specimens 3 Department of Pathology, University of Califor­ were imaged with a standard head coil. In all instances, 5-mm slices with a field of view (FOV) nia, San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, CA of 12-18 em and matrix size of 256 x 256 were acquired using spin-echo sequences. T1- 921 03-1990. weighted sequences had the parameters, 600/20/4-6 (TR/TEfexcitations). All volunteers AJNR 10:659-665, July/August 1989 0195- 6108/89/1004-0659 © American Society of Neuroradiology • General Electric, Milwaukee, WI. 660 COURCHESNE ET AL. AJNR:1 0, July/August 1989 received long TR examinations that were cardiac gated to every other one additional lobule, the nodulus or vermian portion of the or every third heartbeat. The pulse sequence parameters (2400- flocculonodular lobe [21]. Although these names of the lob­ 3800(2 0,70/2-4) yielded proton-density- and T2-weighted images, ules continue to appear in the anatomic literature, another respectively. A presaturation RF pul se for eliminating blood-flow nomenclature widely used in physiologic studies of the cere­ artifacts along the Z axis (flow void= 1) was also used. Nongated long bellum applies Roman numerals to 1 0 lobules in the vermis TR sequences performed on cadaver brains had the parameters, 1800-3000/20,70/4. Slices obtained in all sequences were separated and lateral expansions in the hemispheres [24]. The two by a 2.5-mm gap. A 28-sec T1 -weighted scout sequence (200/20/1 , nomenclatures are listed in Table 1. In this report the Roman 24-cm FOV , and 256 x 128 matrix) in the axial and sagittal plane numeral designations are used only when necessary for clar­ was used to verify precise positioning of the subject or specimen ity. brain prior to performing the protocol sequences. The lobules of the anterior vermis are bounded by the Before MR , the specimen brains were fi xed for 2- 4 weeks in 10% superior medullary velum anteriorly and the primary fissure neutral-buffered formalin . After MR , the cerebellum and brainstem posteriorly. The precentral fissure separates the lingula and were separated from the cerebral hemispheres and sectioned in the centralis, while the preculminate fissure separates the cen­ sagittal plane at a thickness of 5 mm . The tissue blocks were tralis and culmen (Fig. 1A) . dehydrated in a graded series of alcohols, cleared in xylene, and The lobules of the posterior vermis are bounded by the embedded in paraffin. Sagittal microtome sections of the cerebellum primary fissure (which separates them from the anterior lobe) and brainstem were cut at a thickness of 15 llm by using a Multirange Microtome.' Adjacent anatomic sections corresponding closely to the and the posterolateral fissure (which separates them from the MR sections obtained by our protocol were stained with hematoxylin nodulus). Several fissures within the posterior vermis separate and eosin and Luxol fast blue-cresyl violet. The normal anatomic its five lobules from one another: the superior posterior fissure features of the cerebellar vermi s and hemispheres visualized on MR separates the declive and folium vermis, the horizontal fissure and on the corresponding anatomic sections were determined by separates the folium vermis and tuber vermis, the prepyrami­ comparison with standard references of neuroanatomy (16, 17), dal fissure separates the tuber vermis and pyramis, and the myelin-stained cerebellar sections (18 , 19), and cerebellar embryo­ secondary fissure separates the pyramis and uvula (Fig . 1A) . genesis and development (20-23). The nodulus is a separate lobe of the vermis that contains Many systems of nomenclature have been used to describe the only one lobule. It represents the vermian portion of the normal anatomy of mammalian and human cerebellums (18 , 21 , 24). In thi s report we follow closely the terminologies chosen by Ito [21) flocculonodular lobe of the cerebellum and is bounded pos­ and Larsell [24). teriorly by the posterolateral fissure and anteriorly by the vallecula (Fig . 1 A) . Sublobular and foliate divisions.-Each lobule of the vermis can be subdivided into one or more sublobules, each contain­ Results ing a variable number of folia. The folium represents the basic Anatomic Features of the Vermis on a Sagittal Microtome structural unit of the cerebellum seen at gross examination Section and resolved by MR . Each folium is a thin, transverse-oriented fold of cerebellar parenchyma that contains a core of white The vermis represents the median segment of the cerebel­ matter covered by a mantle of gray matter. The unfolded lum that is separated from each of the hemispheres by a surface of a single folium is a few millimeters wide. The human shallow surface indentation, the paramedian sulcus. On a vermis contains approximately 260 of these structural units midline sagittal section (Fig . 1A), the ventral surface of the [21]. vermis is separated from the brainstem by three CSF-filled Organization of the white matter.- The white matter of the spaces that are oriented vertically [18, 25]. Superiorly, the vermis appears to radiate into the lobules from a central precentral fissure separates the vermis from the inferior colli­ confluence, known as the corpus medullare. The corpus culi of the quadrigeminal plate. In the middle, the fourth medullare lies posterior to the fourth ventricle (Fig . 1A) . De­ ventricle separates the vermis from the dorsal surface of the pending on the lobule in which they are located, the white­ pons and upper medulla. Inferiorly, the vallecula separates matter cores of the individual folia of the vermis may represent the vermis from the inferior medulla. Posteriorly, the cisterna second-, third-, or even higher-order branches of the white magna separates the vermis from the meninges overlying the matter emanating from the corpus medullare. To facilitate inner table of the occipital bone. description, the white-matter tracts that originate from the Lobar and lobular divisions .- The transverse-oriented pri­ corpus medullare may be grouped into two major divisions. mary and posterolateral fissures divide the vermis and cere­ The anterior division innervates the anterior lobe (lingula, bellar hemispheres into three major components: the anterior, centralis, and culmen) while the posterior division connects posterior, and flocculonodular lobes [21] (Table 1). Two im­ with the posterior lobe (declive, folium vermis, tuber vermis, portant nomenclatures are in common use for the designation pyramis, and uvula), as well as the nodulus.