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Electromyometrial Imaging of Uterine Contractions in Pregnant Women
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Magnetic resonance evaluation of pregnant patients with acute abdominal pain

Michèle A Brown1, Katherine R Birchard, Richard C Semelka

  • 1Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of California, San Diego, 200 W. Arbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92103, USA. m9brown@ucsd.edu

Seminars in Ultrasound, CT, and MR
|September 13, 2005
PubMed

Acute abdominal pain in a pregnant patient is associated with a long differential diagnosis, and diagnostic imaging is often required to guide management. Ultrasound is safe and widely available; however, maternal structures may be difficult to evaluate during pregnancy due to anatomic changes. Computed tomography is accurate but exposes the fetus to ionizing radiation. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging provides excellent anatomic resolution and tissue characterization without ionizing radiation, and MR diagnosis frequently requires no contrast administration. Using an appropriate combination of sequences, MR imaging can reliably demonstrate many causes of acute abdominal pain during pregnancy.

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