Estudo anatômico da substância branca do cérebro

The fiber dissection technique is a classical method used by the old renowned anatomists in order to demonstrate the white matter tracts of the brain. This technique has been used since the XVII century and involves layer by layer dissection of the white matter in order to depict inner anatomic organization of the parenchyma. The method became neglected for decades because of its complexity. Due to the unique and contemporary possibility of visualizing the encephalic white matter bundles in vivo by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), old anatomic fundamentals paradoxically became more relevant nowadays. This paper describes the main steps of fiber dissection, which was improved by Joseph Klingler and later on revitalized by M.G. Yasargil and Ugur Ture last decade, as a way of understanding the three dimensional intrinsic encephalic anatomy for clinical purposes. This study also intends to explore the ability of this real “virtual dissection” obtained by MRI (tractography) in reproducing and adding value to the white matter anatomic knowledge obtained through the classic method.