Fetal magnetic resonance imaging of the central nervous system: a pictorial essay

Abstract

Prenatal ultrasonography is the primary screening modality for the evaluation of fetal pathology. Ultrafast fetal MRI is a recent development that examines the fetus in utero. The short acquisition times (as short as 400 ms/slice) allow to picture freeze the fetus without the need for fetal sedation. The high spatial resolution, good contrast-to-noise ratio, and the multiplanar capabilities are especially advantageous in pathologies of the fetal central nervous system (CNS). Fetal MRI currently serves as a second-line imaging tool for complex fetal cerebral malformations and pathologies. Fetal ventriculomegaly, lesions within the posterior fossa, and abnormalities in cerebral myelination, migration, and sulcation are particularly well identified.

Self-gating MR imaging of the fetal heart: comparison with real cardiac triggering

“…Up until now, there are no adverse effects on fetal growth or development reported [2][3][4][5][6] in fetal MRI. Still, the usage of MRI during pregnancy is limited to the second and third trimester of pregnancy and the gold standard in fetal cardiac imaging is the usage of ultrasound (US).…”

Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Accurate Diagnosis of Pfeiffer Syndrome Type II in utero

“…MR imaging is superior to ultrasonography for prenatal diagnosis of congenital brain anomalies because of the diffi culty of making coronal and sagittal images of the fetal brain with ultrasound during the third trimester. There have been many reports of highresolution MR images used for prenatal diagnosis of congenital brain anomalies [11][12][13] . Therefore, MR imaging can be used for prenatal diagnosis of craniosynostosis.…”

MRI of cardiac rhabdomyoma in the fetus

“…With the advent of fast, singleshot sequences, the motion of the fetus can be "frozen" [15] and artifacts are reduced. Currently, fetal MRI is a valuable tool to diagnose extracardiac manifestations of tuberous sclerosis in order to give as much information as possible to the parents for their decision-making process [16], and is performed as complementary, secondline diagnostic tool if additional information could influence obstetric management [17]. When fetal intracardiac rhabdomyoma is detected, cerebral MRI is required, and if there are pathognomonic lesions, a termination of pregnancy can be discussed [8].…”