Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Human Fetal Blood Flow Quantification with Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Motion Compensation
Published on: January 7, 2021
The dynamic fetal brain
Dena Towner1, John McGahan, Laila Rhee-Morris
1Department of OB/GYN, University of California Davis Medical Center, 4860 Y Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
Purpose:
To evaluate fetuses with normal intracranial anatomy in the second trimester that became abnormal in the third trimester.
Methods:
We sonographically examined 6 fetuses with a normal second-trimester head sonogram that presented later in pregnancy with an abnormal head sonogram.
Results:
Four categories of intracranial pathology were depicted: obstructive hydrocephalus, intraventricular intracranial hemorrhage, non-intraventricular intracranial hemorrhage, and porencephaly.
Conclusions:
Despite a normal midtrimester intracranial examination, evaluation of the fetal intracranial contents should be undertaken in subsequent sonographic examinations, because significant pathology can develop spontaneously.
