Classification of the venous architecture of the pineal gland by 7 T MRI

SummaryMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 7.0 Tesla (7 T) can show many details of anatomical structures with unprecedented resolution and contrast. In this report, we describe for the first time the unexpected wide variation in pineal gland structure, as visualized by MR images obtained with 7 T in a group of healthy young volunteers. A total of 34 volunteers (22 men and 12 women) were enrolled in the study. Their 7 T MR images revealed such wide variations in pineal gland shape that it led us to attempt to classify the patterns seen in these pineal glands. Indeed, they were successfully correlated with a previous human cadaver study of venous structures by Tamaki et al., who classified the venous structures of the pineal gland into three categories. This is the first human in vivo pineal vein imaging study using 7 T MRI. Pineal venous imaging may permit the early diagnosis of a pineal tumor.