We read with great interest and enthusiasm the article by Barisano et al. (1) entitled “The effect of prolonged spaceflight on cerebrospinal fluid and perivascular spaces of astronauts and cosmonauts” published recently in PNAS. We would like to congratulate the authors for performing this MRI study with findings of great importance for future long-duration human space missions, and would appreciate the opportunity to make a comment.In this MRI study, Barisano et al. (1) assess the preflight to postflight alterations in multiple cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compartments, including perivascular spaces (PVS), across space crews from different space agencies. The authors analyzed brain MRI scans acquired before and within the first 2 wk after long-duration spaceflight on the International Space Station in 24 NASA astronauts, 13 Roscosmos (ROS) cosmonauts, and a small group of European Space Agency astronauts. White matter (WM) and basal ganglia PVS volumes were found to be significantly increased after long-duration spaceflight, with significantly greater percentage enlargements in NASA astronauts compared to ROS cosmonauts. WM-PVS enlargement was significantly correlated with reduction of the subarachnoid space at the vertex. Further, changes in WM-PVS were significantly correlated with mission duration.
展开▼
