Question:hard


MRI of skull represents:

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Midline dilated venous channel in the quadrigeminal cistern behind the splenium.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
  • Vein of Galen
  • Dandy Walker syndrome
  • Pneumocephalus
  • Crouzon syndrome
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Spot the abnormal structure - a rounded flow-related mass sitting in the midline just behind the corpus callosum splenium, in the quadrigeminal cistern. Anatomically that is where the great cerebral vein lives, so this is a vein of Galen malformation.
Step 2: Recall the venous anatomy: the two internal cerebral veins plus the basal veins of Rosenthal merge into this short trunk, which then drains into the straight sinus. An arteriovenous shunt balloons it into an aneurysmal sac.
Step 3: The clinical correlate is a high-output cardiac failure in the newborn because of the large shunt; older children present with hydrocephalus, seizures or developmental delay.
Step 4: Excluding alternatives - Dandy Walker is a posterior fossa cyst with absent vermis, pneumocephalus is air not flow void, and Crouzon affects suture fusion of the skull vault, not an intracranial venous channel. \[\boxed{\text{Vein of Galen malformation}}\]
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