Maturation of the human fetal brain as observed by ¹H MR spectroscopy

Elucidating Metabolic Maturation in the Healthy Fetal Brain Using1H-MR Spectroscopy

“…29 Analysis of our data indicated that tCho may be a moreappropriate reference metabolite for the developing fetal brain because it remains at relatively constant levels from 18 to 40 weeks of gestation, as shown by the tCho linear regression straight line plot and shown from the absolute metabolite concentrations quantified using the unsuppressed tissue water as an internal reference 20 in Table 2. However, there is a small increase in tCho when considering the cohort in the third trimester alone, which likely indicated the start of myelination.…”

“…Linear regression analysis (least squares method) was used to fit a straight line with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to the absolute metabolite concentrations and ratios as a function of GA. [28][29][30] The goodness of fit was assessed using the coefficient of determination (r 2 ) and the standard deviation of the residuals. The slope of the linear regression was tested at P Ͻ .05 as indicative of significance.…”

Obstetric MRI

“…Problems with the use of MR spectroscopy are the relatively long scan times that allow for fetal motion to occur, and the potential for partial volume averaging of small structures. Levels of inositol, choline, creatinine, and N-acetylaspartate have been obtained in the fetal brain in the third trimester (84); these levels change with respect to gestational age (85). In a small series by Borowska-Matwiejczuk et al (78), in three of six patients with ischemia, spectral analysis of the ratio of N-acetylaspartate, choline compounds, myoinositol, lactate, and lipid signals to the creatinine level varied as compared to normal levels.…”

Lactate detection in the brain of growth-restricted fetuses with magnetic resonance spectroscopy

“…[11][12][13][14] Such studies have failed to detect lactate in the normal fetal brain. However, several authors have recently suggested that the potential evidence of cerebral lactate is an indicator of altered fetal cerebral metabolism in pathological conditions.…”